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3



r



MUSIC LIBRARY



HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY



DATE DUE



5NJT'b




4rii,)m




■w^



liUSA



RECOLLECTIONS OF
AN OLD MLISICLAN



Ni.W YiiKK
. r. hlJTTON S; COMI'ANY



RECOLLECTIONS OF
AN OLD MUSICIAN



THOMAS RYAN



NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

31 West Twentj-thwd Street



Max 490o,icr



R^



HARVARD

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

JAN 31 iat)t)



jj



'2j
h
ill



5



DEDICATION

My dear Mr. Brown :

Old friendship alone would warrant me in asking you
to stand godfather to this collection of musical memories,
yet the appropriateness of dedicating it to you is self-
evident, while it gives me great personal satbfaction.

Most of us, or the best of us, may have done fairly well
as workers in Boston's musical vineyard, yet it will be
found that our labors have produced but ephemeral
results in comparison with yours.

Not only have you, for many years, been a participator
in forming musical societies, to lay the foundations of a
healthy art growth, but a rare foresight impelled you to
devote your time, means, and energies to the acquire-
ment of everything relating to music, — its history, its
vast literature, and its complete or reduced scores of any
value from the earliest compositions to those of to-day.
Your collection may fairly be called stupendous; it is a
monument to your industry and discrimination.

Having gathered it, you presented this remarkable
collection to the citizens of Boston, to form a part of the
great stores of learning in the Public Library, and to
be forever free to students of music and seekers after
musical knowledge. I believe that this act has ennobled
you in the eyes of every thoughtful citizen.

As a musician, who foresees the benefits to flow for all
future time from your generous and invaluable gift, I
beg to assure you of my individual appreciation; and I
hope to remain, as ever.

Your friend and fellow-worker,

Thomas Ryan.

To Allbn T. Brown, Esquire,
Boston, Man.

iii



•--. *..



PREFACE

RETROSPECTION is the inheritance of
mature age. We all love to recall the
scenes of the past and the companions of our
pleasures or sorrows. I often order memory
to unroll slowly before my mental vision the
panorama of my past life. Upon some of the
scenes I look with a strong desire to chain
the wheels that move them from view, but with
others those wheels cannot turn too quickly.

The first picture I call up stands out clearly
defined. I see myself as a boy again, landing
on America's shore, with the pleasures of hope
shining in my eyes, — for a good fairy has
touched the new land with her magic wand, and
every object I look upon is strangely beautiful.

The same good fairy leads me up State
Street and Court ^Street in Boston, and, wan-
dering aimlessly and boylike, I follow up the
hill into Pemberton Square. I stand there
and look round at the solid, comfortable,
stately mansions of old Boston's aristocracy,
and possibly I feel my own insignificance. I



/



vi Preface

get my first glimpse of American female
beauty, for, looking into one of the long win-
dows which reach to the parlor floor, I see a
charming girl rocking back and forth in a kind
of chair which is totally new to my young
eyes. I am fascinated, fairly entranced, and
doubtless gaping wonder is expressed in my
countenance.

It is just fifty years since that trivial event
happened, and yet — so wondrously are we
made !— in the twinkling of an eye memory
gives back the picture perfect in every detail —
and just as rapidly will change it for another.

In moments of quiet abstraction I thus call
up and dwell on every past event from boy-
hood to the present. I begin perhaps with
sailing on the ship, my landing, my first theatre
employment; I pass on to the formation of
the Quintette Club and its first concert in
Boston, the Jenny Lind visit, the various or-
chestral experiences, the opening of the Boston
Music Hall, our club's first trips out of New
England and to the West, my first sight of
great Chicago, romantic California, Honolulu,
New Zealand and the other Australian colonies,
the return to glorious America, the year with
Madame Nilsson — and so on and on till all
seems on a dead level of monotony ; and yet



Preface vii

It has been as eventful as most men's lives are
when devoid of the heroic or the tragic.

This conjuring up of life's past events before
the mind's eye is familiar to all thoughtful per-
sons, but it is a half-dreaming habit and enter-
tains the dreamer only. I hope that it will
not be thought that I have rashly undertaken
the task of making my dreamy recollections
interesting to other people; I think there
must be many who would like to know how we
of the earlier musical force worked, and what
kind of an environment we had fifty years ago.
If I succeed in interesting my readers in my
recollections, I shall be amply repaid for the
labor of jotting them down.

T. R.

Boston, March, 1899.



CONTENTS



Chapter I

PAGB

Boyhood — Musical Training — Violin Episode — Sailing for
America — Friends Aboard — ^Arrival — First Impressions of
Boston — ^Theatre Engagement i

Chapter II

The American Atmosphere — The Adelphi — John Brougham
—The Howard Theatre— The Matrimonial ^aA^— Stock
Companies — Mr. and Mrs. Seguin — Musical Education . ii

Chapter III

Father Streeter*s Church and Stories — ^Junius Brutus Booth —
A Stage Combat — Incidents of the Stage — The Viennoise
Children 90

Chapter IV

Henry Herz, Pianist — Sivori at Home — ^Paganini's Violin —
The Havana Opera Troupe — ^Arditi and his Admirer —
Marti, Pirate, Fish Dealer, and Opera Manager . . 31

Chapter V

The Boston Academy of Music — Its Aims — Rehearsal of Mid-
summer Nighfs Dream Overture — The Germania Associ-
ation — ^Programme of its First Concert in Boston . 43

ix



X Contents

Chapter VI

PAGB

Local Societies-— The Musical Fund— The Melodeon— ** Old
Tom Comer" — His Financial Appeal — Haydn's ** Fare-
well Symphony" 49

Chapter VII

Steyermark Orchestra — Francis Riha — Lombardi Orchestra —
Saxonia Orchestra — Germania Musical Association —
William Schultze — Carl Bergman and his Up Broctdway
— First Public Rehearsals — Typical Programme 56

Chapter VIII

Influx of Musicians — Gungl Orchestra — Jullien the Conductor
— His Versatility — His Character and History — His Per-
formance of Night in Crystal Palace, New York . . 65

Chapter IX

The Handel and Haydn Society — Mr. John L. Hatton — Mr.
Charles C. Perkins — Carl Zerrahn — Dr. J. C. Upham —
The ** War Secretaries" — ^B. J. Lang — Margaret Ruthven
Lang 76



Chapter X

Ole Bull— 7*>i/ Arkansas Traveller—Jvihus Eichberg— The

Boston Conservatory of Music 88



Chapter XI

Mendelssohn Quintette Club— First Public Concert — Lyceum
Lectures and Professor Agassiz — Yankee Singing-Schools
and Musical Conventions — Home-bred Talent ... 92



Contents xi

Chapter XII

PAGE

Annie Louise Gary — The Orchestral Union — The Harvard
Musical Association — The Boston Sjrmphony Orchestra —
Mr. John Bigelow — Mendelssohn Quintette Club Mem-,
bers loi



Chapter XIII

Mr. Jonas Chickering — The White Linen Apron — Upright,
Square, Grand Man — Thomas Power — Rufus Choate*s
Chirography — Invitation Concert io8



Chapter XIV

Lowell Mason — Oliver Ditson — ^An Accident — ^John Sebastian
Dwight — Dwight's Journal of Music — Musical Conserve^
tism 115



Chapter XV

Mendelssohn Birthday Festival in 185 1 — Newspaper Notices
— ^Youthful Enthusiasm — Beethoven Centenary Commemo-
ration 123



Chapter XVI

Jenny Lind — Her History — How a Poor Boy Earned his Ticket
— ^An Advertising Dodge — ^Jules Benedict — Belletti — Otto
Goldschmidt — Daniel Webster's Bow — Concert in Fitch-
burg Depot — ^Jenny Lind at Northampton . . . 128



Chapter XVII

Catherine Hays — Madame Sontag — Carl Eckert — Paul Jullien,

the Boy Violinist — Alboni — Hector Berlioz . . . 144



xii Contents

Chapter XVIII

PAGB

William Lloyd Garrison — Mrs. Garrison — Theodore Parker —
Thomas Starr King— Collaboration with Oliver Wendell
Holmes — ^National Hymns 148

Chapter XIX

Changes of the Quintette Club— William Schultze— S. Jacob-
sohn — Playing for a Sick Man — Schubert's Swan Son^~^
"Death and the Maiden" 155



Chapter XX

Trips to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington — The Washing,
ton Editor— A Musical Criticism— Going West— Elliot's
Advertising Feat — ^A Partnership Poster .... 162



Chapter XXI

The National College of Music— The Boston Fire— The Lady
Lecturer — Travelling Tales — The Young Men's Society —
Statuettes Metamorphosed 172



Chapter XXII

The Peace Jubilees — Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore — The Province
House — Parepa^Rosa — Drilling Choristers in New Eng-
land—The ** Anvil Chorus" — Programme of First Jubilee
Concert 185



Chapter XXIII

The Second Jubilee — ^Foreign Bands — Political Antagonisms
and Musical Rivalry — Madame Pescha Leutner — Madame
Rudersdorf — ^Johann Strauss 198



Contents xiii

Chapter XXIV

PAGB

Wieniawski— 'His Style of Playing — Rabinstein— A Musical

Eyening— A Visit to the Kitchen 204

Chapter XXV

Trip to California — ^From Snowdrifts to Roses — To Australia
— Concert at Sydney, New South Wales — Brisbane,
Queensland — Natives and their Characteristics— Marybor-
ough and Gympie— A Smoking Audience . 210

Chapter XXVI

Tasnumia — Hobart, the Capital — Ascent of Mount Wellington

— ^Lannceston — ^A Paganini Souvenir— Volunteer Settlers, 290

Chapter XXVII

Return to Sydney — ^An Unexpected Encounter — ^A Sad Story
— Farewell Concert — To Melbourne — ^Julius Siede — To
Adelaide, South Australia — ^Wellington, Capital of New
Zealand — Dr. Hector and the Mountain Lake — The
Maoris— Concert at Honolulu — Teresa Carrefio . . 227

Chapter XXVIII

Christine Nilsson — Her Genial Character — ^A Christmas Eve

Surprise— Otto Hegner, Boy Pianist .... 242

Chapter XXIX

Incidents and Happenings — Indian Auditors — ^Bird Imitation
—Noisy Exit at Topeka— Hardships of Travel— The
Prairie Schooner— Sleighing under Difficulties — Printers'
Pranks , , 247



xiv Contents

Chapter XXX

PACT

Some New England Musicians — ^J. C. D. Parker — ^J. K. Paine

^Emst Perabo— Arthur Foote — George Sumner . • 259

Chapter XXXI

Soldiers' Home at Milwaukee — ^Saluting the Stars and Stripes

—A Later Visit—" Bully for the Dutch " ... 266

Chapter XXXII

Joachim the Violinist — Matinde bei yoachim — Berlin High

School of Music — Playing of Pupils — ^Americans — L'Envoi, 271



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



PAGB

Thomas Ryan .... Frontispiece

The Ryan Homb i

John Brougham and McCullough . . .12

Charlotte Cushman 20

AuGUSTE Fries 26

SivoRi 32

Allen T. Brown 38

George James Webb .•••.. 46

William Schultze .••••• 58

Marie Barna .••••.. 66

Fritz Giese . . . • • • • 7^

Carl Zerrahn ••••••• 80

B. J. LfANG .••••••• 84

Ole Bull 90

Mendelssohn Quintette Club, 1849 . • 94

Annie Louise Cary 10 1

John Bigelow 104

Jonas Chickering • • • • • .no

Lowell Mason . . . . . . .112

Oliver Ditson 116



xvi List of Illustrations

FAGB

John S. D¥aGHT 120

Fsux Bartholdy Mendelssohn . . .126

Anton Hekking 132

WuLF Fries 136

Jenny Lind 140

William Lloyd Garrison 148

Mrs. Garrison 152

Rudolph Hennig 158

Camille Urso 164

D. H. Elliot 170

Margaret Ruthven Lang .... 178

Patrick S. Gilmore 186

Parepa-Rosa 192

JOHANN Strauss 200

Henri Wieniawski 204

Anton Rubinstein 206

The Club that Went to Australia, 1881, . 212

Hob art, Tasmania 220

Fern Trees near Invercargill . . . 233

Adelaide, South Australia .... 233

DuNEDiN, New Zealand 234

LiLA JuEL 238

Christine Nilsson 242

Otto Hegner and his Father . . . 248

George W. Sumner 262

The Mendelssohn Quintette Club , . 266



RECOLLECTIONS OF AN
OLD MUSICIAN



CHAPTER I

THE old musician who presents these re-
collections to the reader believes that
there are a goodly number of old-time friends,
those who lived in the " fifties," who will share
his pleasure in recalling local history of musical
and theatrical life.

As a participator in most of the occurrences
here detailed, I claim the privilege of writing
in the first person, and of introducing myself
by a few pages of autobiography. I hope .
to be credited with modesty ; and I will inflict
only a small section of my personal history on
the reader. I would not do even that were it
not that I can fairly be considered a type of the
average professional musician. Moved by the
same feeling that makes us watch the growth
of a tender young plant with interest, we follow



2 Recollections of an Old Musician

with no less interest the growth of the human
plant, we try to find out its origin and what has
been its environment ; knowing that, we make
deductions which become part of our stock of
knowledge.

One fact is quickly recognized ; namely, that
the musician who, with enthusiasm and love
for the art, works his way to the front, generally
comes from the class in which poverty and
struggle are born twins, and are ever wrestling
with each other ; and the persistent wrestler is
the one who inevitably overcomes his twin
brother, and leaves him behind in the ranks of
the lazy and the slothful.

My father was a soldier in the English army.
He was a passionate lover of music and played
the flute respectably. I naturally infer that I
inherited from him my musical temperament
I began to study the flute when I was about
nine years old. My father did not own a
beginner's book for the instrument, and a
friend loaned me one. On a certain Christmas
morning I was given a sixpence. With that
Fortunatus-gift I trudged three miles from our
fort into the town of Kinsale, Ireland, and
bought twelve sheets of music-paper, on which
I copied the entire instruction book, exercises
and all, from cover to cover. It is a trifling



Recollections of an Old Musician 3

bit of history, but shows me conclusively that
I was made of the right stuff. I think it is
not often recorded that a boy of nine spends
his Christmas-gift money to purchase paper in
order to copy an instruction book

What would I not give now to possess that
copy ! None of us as boys realize how highly we
shall prize certain things which were fashioned
by our own hands when we were little fellows.
We do not foresee the time when some of
these trifles will be counted among our dearest
treasures.

Until I was ten years old I practically had
heard no music, for my father's regiment was
away on foreign service with its band. A little
later, to my great delight, a regiment with a
complete band came to our post I was on
the watch for their first rehearsal ; I begged
father to take me to it. He and I entered the
room just as the band was beginning to play the
overture to Fra Dtavolo. The drum solo
with which it begins transfixed me, but when
the trumpet solo at the opening allegro began,
I screamed with delight and father had to
put his hand over my mouth to keep me from
disturbing the musicians. It is safe to say
that a certain little boy was present every
time that band played.



4 Recollections of an Old Musician

When I was fourteen years old, father's reg-
iment returned to England. The band was
good, thanks to its skilful master. From that
time on I had fairly good and regular training
in music. I was placed under the band-mas-
ter's care, who became a kind of second father to
me, and helped me in my ambitious desire to
study all the band instruments, but kept me
mainly on the clarinet. When I was sixteen
years old, I was made to feel very proud by
being invited to play second clarinet in the
Anacreontic Society of Belfast, Ireland This
was my first playing with anything like a
symphony orchestra. The immediate result
was to inspire me with an unconquerable de-
sire to study the violin. An incident in con-
nection therewith is perhaps worth recording.

Strolling one day in Belfast, I saw in a
pawn-shop window an old violin with a hand-
some carved head, and, boylike, I desired to
own it. I stepped into the shop and inquired
the price. It was one guinea. I had in my
pocket just ten shillings, which I handed over
to the shopkeeper, who gave me a written
guaranty that he would hold the violin till I
paid him the balance of the money. I went
at once to my music-master, told him I needed
eleven shillings to buy something not to be



Recollections of an Old Musician 5

mentioned, got the money, bought the violin,
carried it to my teacher, and told him I wanted
to learn to play the instrument He was very
much pleased, examined the instrument, said
it was not of much value, but if I really wanted
to study the violin I could use his. This was
a valuable instrument that had been in the
family for two generations. He paid me back
my ten shillings, fitted me out with violin, bow,
and the unfailing Kreutzer Method^ and gave
me lessons for about eighteen months, till the
regiment was ordered to leave England again
for foreign service. We then had to part
company. I returned the violin, said good-bye
to my dear friend and music-teacher, made a
short farewell visit to my family, went to Liver-
pool, and took passage in a sailing-ship for
Boston.

Before going farther with my history, I must
say a little more about that violin. About
thirty years ago our Quintette Club was en-
gaged for a concert in Montreal. In the con-
cert room some members of my family, who
were travelling with us, noticed in the audi-
ence an old gentleman of very dignified ap-
pearance, who seemed entirely engrossed with
the music ; when it was my turn to come for-
ward and play a clarinet solo he almost rose



6 Recollections of an Old Musician

to his feet ; and while I was playing his hand-
kerchief was in constant use, for tears were
running down his cheeks. As soon as the last
note of my piece was sounded, the gentleman
jumped up, rushed towards the stage, met me
face to face, and throwing his arms about me
just as I recognized him, he exclaimed, " Tom,
my boy ! " — and I beheld once more my dear
old friend and music master. He had recently
been stationed in Montreal, and seeing my
name in the announcement of the concert, had
been to the hotel to find me ; but as our party
was late in arriving, he had to wait until the
evening before he could see me.

After the concert I went home with him, for
we had a thousand things to say to each other.
On entering the parlor, there on a centre table
lay the old violin with the carved head that I
had bought in the pawn-shop in Belfast, Ire-
land I examined it, and saw that it was worth
very little from a money point of view, but it
possessed for me an inestimable sentimental
value. I said to my old friend, " I must have
that violin."

"No, Tom, you cannot," he answered ;
"for in all my wanderings since you parted
from me, it has generally been the first thing I
unpacked. I will tell you, though, what you



Recollections of an Old Musician 7

can have ; I will give you the old family violin,
the one on which you began to study."

Naturally, I was very much affected by so
generous an act In vain I offered to pay him
for the instrument ; he would not listen. We
passed a couple of delightful hours in relating
our happenings; and I had the pleasure of
seeing my old friend many times thereafter ere
he passed away to join the good people in
Paradise.

I have the violin now, and must relate an-
other event in its history. At one period it
needed some repairs, and I gave it into the
hands of the well-known Mr. Warren White,
who had a store and repair-shop in the Tremont
Temple. When the instrument was repaired
I had it well packed in paper, and a tag with
my name attached to it I then handed it to
the storekeeper with the request that he would
put it in a safe place while I did some errands.
I saw him push it into a sort of pigeon-hole
under the front shop-window ; then the transac-
tion passed from my mind. Some months
later, needing the violin, I opened the case,
and was horrified to find it empty. Every
member of my family could recall the fact of
my taking the violin away to be repaired, but
knew nothing further. I remembered getting



8 Recollections of an Old Musician

it from Mr. White, and that was all. I came
to the conclusion that I had left it somewhere
while attending to my errands, and mourned
sincerely the loss of the instrument.

Nearly a year from that time I received no-
tice from Mr. White that he was moving to
another store, and that a violin tagged with
my name had been found in one of the pigeon-
holes under his store window. I went with
great glee, re-found my old friend, and carried
it home in triumph.

To return to my personal history: While
on the voyage to Boston, there was very little
to interest me outside of my own thoughts.
The passengers on a sailing-vessel in those
days were not very congenial, and I, — a rather
shy boy of seventeen, — though full of curiosity
about the new home before me, and of enthu-
siasm for the profession which was to be my
life-work, felt a depressing sense of isolation.

A six weeks' voyage, however, usually brings
people together who otherwise would never
know or care for each other. It happened
that my practice on the clarinet in my state-
room was overheard by some Western people,
who became interested, and soon began to like
to talk with me. Their kind words quite won
my heart, for the homesick ** all-alone-in-the



Recollections of an Old Musician 9

world" feeling had taken possession of me,
and I was in the mood to welcome friendly
advances. These good people tried to induce
me to go West, but I had determined to make
Boston my home, and would not abandon the
idea Yet often my heart reached out to these
friends, and in after years when I met them
again and again I found them always staunch
and true.

I think I shall never forget my first sight of the
city which has been my home for so many years,
— it was rapture. Early morning was just dawn-
ing when we made Boston Light The rising
sun was shedding its rosy beams on the dome
of the State House. The splendid bay and
harbor, the picturesque, pleasant homes on the
shores, seemed so beautiful in the clear early
summer atmosphere that it was just like fairy-
land to me — the sanguine boy of seventeen and
a half years old, who was so soon to try a new
life. I was full of faith that everything and
every face was to smile on me — and all did
smile on me, for even when separating from
my ship friends, who were perhaps the first
Americans I had ever met, I had their parting
benedictions to go with and sustain me for the
first few days spent in seeking an engagement.

On the third day from landing, in May,



lo Recollections of an Old Musician

1845, I was duly engaged as flautist at the
Washington Street Theatre, at the very re-
spectable salary of seven dollars per week. Mr.
William B. English was the manager. The
theatre was on the corner of Winter and Wash-
ington streets, over Lee's saloon, now Tuttle's
shoe store.



CHAPTER II

THERE was, and is to-day, an indescribable
something in the atmosphere of America
which gives to the stranger the impression that
every one is happy, prosperous, and having a
good picnic-like time ; while in Europe a more
serious and depressing atmosphere exists. I
remember distinctly how jubilant the new life
and new country made me, and how happy I
was to earn so much money and amuse myself
evenings by playing in a pretty theatre. The
idea of its being labor did not occur to me.

The only souvenirs that I have of that first
summer are the little comedies brought out by
Mr. English, and his melodrama of Rosina
Meadows, which first saw light in that little
theatre, and had a great run for several years.
The two Chapman brothers were very clever,
funny people, and were inimitable in the cele-
brated Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, written
by Douglas Jerrold for Punch (to which he
was a principal contributor), and prepared for
the stage by some witty playwright. We had
also the well-known Mrs. Drake and her

zx



12 Recollections of an Old Musician

daughter, — ^the latter a beautiful girl and a
wonderful soubrette, who afterward married
Harry Chapman. "Gentleman Fenno" was
the leading man.

The indulgent reader will permit me to relate
here an experience I passed through last win-
ter, while the opera was at the Boston Theatre,
which affected me strongly. I was strolling
in the corridor between the acts, my eyes idly
scanning the old play-bills which hang on the
walls, when — lo and behold ! — there hangs a
play-bill of the little Washington Street Thea-
tre, a programme of a night in July, 1845. 1
stand transfixed. All the old names and pieces
recall the scene to memory so vividly that I am
again the youth of seventeen years, breathing
the romantic atmosphere in which I then lived.
It positively unfitted me for enjoying the rest
of the evening. Henceforward I know there
is a spot in the corridor which has a special
attraction for me.

In the autumn of 1845 Mr. English moved
his dramatic company to a small theatre on
Court Street, the stage end of which looked
into Cornhill, and the auditorium reached to
Brattle Street, — ^all on the second story of
the building. The dramatic company com-
prised many people of genius in their special-



JOHN BROUQHAM AND McCULLOUQH.



Recollections of an Old Musician 13

ties, including the inimitable John Brougham
and his wife; Chanfrau, who was even then
famous in his rdle of " Mose, the Volunteer
Fireman " ; Mr. and Mrs. Bland, the two Chap-
mans, Chippendale, and Miss Drake. The
theatre was called the Adelphi. Its main line
of work was musical extravaganza. John
Brougham tried most of his pieces in Boston
long before he moved to New York — ^pieces
like Pocahontas and Cherry and Fair Star.
He composed parodies— even on great works
like Macbeth, — of which there seemed to
be no end. Everything produced was for fun,
and Brougham was quite the life and soul of it
all. He was to me a wonderful man — hand-
some, good-natured, and ready-witted.

One night in the course of a piece, he had
to hide himself in a large old standard clock
and at a given moment rush out in defence of
the inevitable young lady in difficulties. Mak-
ing an incautious rush, he knocked over the
old clock and sprawled out on the floor. The
hands of the clock flew near to the feet of
the stage villain. Brougham, whose ready wit
never halted, shouted out, " Even the clock
says, 'Hands off!'" You may imagine the
roar of laughter which this impromptu sally
drew from the audience.



14 Recollections of an Old Musician

Mrs. Brougham was a handsome, though
large and over-fleshy woman. According to
stage history, in her younger days she had
been an accomplished dancer ; and even now
she could dance with the atrial agility of a
Taglioni. She was also a fairly good singer.
All the others were skilled artists, who had
been through the training-school of stock com-
panies. They had one and all been selected
by Brougham, and were a set of people whose
counterparts could not be found in this age.

I played in this little theatre two seasons.
Then came promotion. I was engaged to
play in the Howard Atheneum, at the munifi-
cent salary of nine dollars per week. That
theatre had just been built on the site of the
"Second Advent Tabernacle." It was said
that the builders of the theatre put in the big
church window in front, in readiness to convert
the building to church uses in the event of its
not being successful as a theatre. The " Tab-
ernacle " was a large wooden bam of a building
and had for a few years been used for theatre
and opera, after the religious delusion had ex-
ploded. One very lucky night it burnt down,
and then was built the fairly solid Howard
Atheneum.

Playing in this new theatre was for me an



Recollections of an Old Musician 15

agreeable change. It had, for those days^
quite a sizable orchestra. The leader sat fa-
cing the stage, and was for a long time the only
first violin. We had but one second violin,
one viola, one contrabass, no violoncello, one
flute, two clarinets, one fagott, two horns, a
trumpet, a trombone, and drums. The kind
and quality of music played would nowadajrs
strike one as queer. It consisted of overtures,
quadrilles, polkas, galops — ^in short, mostly
dance music. There was a total absence of
so-called popular music, if we except a few
quicksteps and marches. There were no char-
acteristic pieces such as figure on the pro-
grammes of to-day.

I well remember the first one we were
asked to play. It was called the Matrimonial
Galop. It was of ordinary construction, the
only reason for its peculiar name being a sud-
den hold-up, where the drummer or leader, I
forget which, blew into a little instrument that
gave out a sound like the cry of a baby. That
childish noise made the audience roar with de-
light, and we had to play it nightly. We poor
musicians suffered ; but one night we had our
revenge. The usual calls came from the audi-
ence — they wanted the baby-cry, but did not get
it The machine crying-baby had vanished —



1 6 Recollections of an Old Musician

it could not be found. Consternation reigned
among those who wanted the people pleased,
no matter how it was done. We tried to ap-
pease the audience by playing the galop ; but
when we came to the spot of spots, and there
was no realistic baby-cry, but only a base imi-
tation made on the fiddle, a howl of derision
and rage went up, equal to anything ever
heard in a menagerie. The disappointment
was more than the audience could stand.

It was a time in the history of our people
when concessionnaires were allowed to peddle
apples, oranges, candy, and the like, in the
upper tiers. The indignant gods of the gallery
began to pelt us with their apples and oranges,
and we had to leave the orchestra in a hurry.
The manager came before the curtain and
tried to be funny, but a good half-hour was
spent in waiting for quiet. Finally there was
a lull in the gale, the curtain rang up, and
a piece began. What the manager tried to
say to the audience was that some fellow whose
baby had died had stolen the machine and
carried it home to console the poor dejected
mother !

The Howard, of which Mr. Ayling was.the
manager, had a large stock company. My
young readers are not to infer from the word



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 7

'' stock " that a syndicate of capitalists exploited
the finances of the theatre. It means, in con-
tradistinction to the present custom of having
entire companies of players travel from town
to town, that the theatre had its own regular
company, and was visited by individual stars,
such as Booth (the elder), Macready, Char-
lotte Cushman, E. L. Davenport, Cora Mowatt,
and occasionally a complete opera company,
like the Seguins, which I think was the only
opera company then travelling in the United
States.

We had also visits from ballet companies, at
that time very much in vogue. It would
doubtless be a strange entertainment for the
present age. Imagine people being now
asked to spend two or three hours witnessing
a play in *' dumb show " ; though good panto-
mimic action, artistic dancing, fine scenery, and
the best of instrumental music were given.
Apropos, I may be allowed to state that the
best composers of the period — mostly French
— wrote good ballets ; notably Les Wilts, by
Adolphe Adam, composer of Le Postilion de
Longjumeau, Le Chdlet, and many other operas.

Visits from the Seguin Opera Company were
a delight to me. The performances were up
to a very creditable standard, the singing being



1 8 Recollections of an Old Musician

in English of course. The list included most
of the operas by Balfe, Wallace, Donizetti,
Bellini, Auber, Adam, and Boieldieu ; such as
Masantelloy Fra DzavolOy Crown Diamonds^ La
BayaderCy La Sonnambula^ The Stranger^ Nor^
ma. The Pirate, I Purttant, Lucrezta, Lucta^
The Daughter of the Regiment, and La Dame
Blanche. The only operas with a comic ad-
mixture were The Barber and the Elixir
of Love. The educated musician will re-
cognize all these as almost classic works, and
our present race of opera singers may well
take off their hats in acknowledgment of the
ability of their predecessors.

Mrs. Seguin, the leading soprano, was a
genuine musician, a worthy sample of the
good all-round artist that comes only from
England. That means one who was put at
the piano in early life, is at home in all piano
music, and has studied enough to be a capable
harmonist The next step was voice build-
ing, — solfeggio in every shape, individual parts
in opera and the invaluable oratorio, — each
being carried on without undue haste. Such
a person matures with a real respect for music
as an art Mrs. Seguin was a comely woman
of fresh rosy English complexion, full of grace
and vivacity in all her movements, a painstak-



Recollections of an Old Musician 19

ing actress, industrious in every detail necessary
to complete stage preparation, and the life and
soul of the company, I cannot recall a better
singer, actress, and musician combined in one
person. Certainly among our young American
singers, in whose training everything which
tends to make a thorough musician is generally
omitted, not one can be singled out to com-
pare with Madame Seguin in her prime.

Mr. Seguin was also a capital singer and a
remarkably good actor. I think that his
" Devilshoof " in The Bohemian Girl has never
been excelled. He had a grand, flexible bass
voice, together with a fund of humor that made
his rdles in The Barber and Elixir of Love
stand out as masterpieces. It is to be under-
stood that opera bouffe, or the so-called comic
opera of the present time, was not in existence.
Musicians may congratulate themselves there-
on, for thus they escaped the '* topical song "
infliction and other musical rot of this day.



CHAPTER III

1MUST not omit one historic fact, namely,
— theatres in Boston were not allowed to
give dramatic or operatic performances on Sat-
urdays (too near Sunday !), and that gave us
musicians our freedom ; hence the custom of
devoting Saturdays to society concerts. I re-
call another fact : several churches did not
have organs, so they called in the assistance
of the ** devil's instruments " — fiddles and cor-
nets — to help the singers. I played the clari-
net for two years in Father Streeter's church
on Hanover Street We had a little orchestra
composed of a violin (Mr. William Warren),
clarinet (T. Ryan), contrabass (Mr. Burdett),
and ophicleide (Mr. Cutting).

Old Father Streeter was a good story-teller.
One day he told us that he noticed one of his
congregation leaning back in his pew and
sleeping with his mouth open. A sailor in the
gallery discovered the sleeper and his trap-
door of a mouth ; took a plug of tobacco out
of his own mouth, poised it, took aim, and let

ao



CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN.



Recollections of an Old Musician 21

it drop. It fell into the trap and choked the
sleeper, who jumped to his feet in sudden
wakefulness. Another time Father Streeter
noticed a man with a fiery red head fast asleep,
and a small boy directly behind him went
through the motions of a blacksmith heating
an iron ; he held the imaginary iron close to
the red hair, carefully turned it, and hammered
it on his knee. Good Father Streeter with
much difficulty maintained his gravity.

The managers of theatres, backed up by our
worthiest citizens, petitioned the legislature
many times to permit matinees on Saturday
afternoons. It was finally granted. That en-
tering wedge soon opened the way for the
evening performance, — I think in about 1850.

I came near being killed one night in the
Howard. The elder Booth was playing the
title rdle of Richard the Thirds and was in one
of his magnificent moods, when, during the
development of a tragedy, he would become so
impassioned and exalted that he believed him-
self to be a real personage in a living drama.
At such times there was positive danger for
any one on or near the stage. The " Rich-
monds " had to be good masters of the sword.
Booth was of medium size, compact figure,
strong, and full of nervous force. He had been



22 Recollections of an Old Musician

known, in some of his stage fights, to chase his
antagonist off the stage, around the wings, and
onto the stage again ; and it required the ut-
most circumspection on the part of his oppo-
nent to avoid being killed.

On the night in question I was in my usual
place in the orchestra, helping to play the bat-
tle music, with one eye on the stage watching
the progress of the combat, which was terribly
real. In a wild paroxysm Booth knocked the
sword out of Richmond's hand with terrific
force ; it flew towards the orchestra, grazed the
side of my head, and then stuck quivering with
its point well embedded in the wooden music-
desk directly behind me. I never again sat in
the orchestra when any such sword-fight was
in progress.

The combat between Richard and Richmond
reminds me of a very funny termination to this
same scene as I once saw it enacted in a thea-
tre in Toronto, Ontario. Doubtless there are
those in that city who will remember the inci-
dent, for it happened not many years ago.
Richard had the traditional hunch on his royal
back, but it had been incautiously made up.
During the progress of the famous combat, it
was seen to change position, in fact it began to
move down to Richard's middle ; then came



-^ »



Recollections of an Old Musician 23

an awful catastrophe, — ^the hunch fell on the
stage ! Every one could see that it was made
up of an old pair of flannel drawers — tapes and
all. When it fell, it spread out in as comical a
shape as could have been made of deliberate
design. Instantly there was a roar of laughter,
enough to almost " raise the roof." The ac-
tors tried to go on, but a sudden remembrance
of the old drawers would every now and then
convulse the audience and make any serious
attention to the play impossible. It was a re-
lief when Richard was killed and the curtain
rung down.

Naturally many funny things happen in thea-
tres. When I was a boy playing in Alexan-
der's Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, a piece
was on in which a robber figured prominently.
A reward had been offered for his head — a
well-known ancient custom. He had been
caught, duly decapitated, and the head-money
paid. At the rising of the curtain for the third
act, the ghastly, dead head could be seen on
the magistrate's table. In order to have the
scene very realistic, the actor who had been
the robber was hid under the table, which had
a valance reaching to the floor, and through a
hole cut in the table-top the robber's head
could come up and lie as naturally on it as any



24 Recollections of an Old Musician

dead head The piece had had a rather long
run and the gallery gods were tired of it.
The table with the head was placed near the
front of the stage. The aforesaid gallery gods
— creatures without a conscience — procured
some very old, strong Scotch snuff, and through
a little blow-pipe they easily blew the snuff
down towards the head. Oh, it was a cruel
sight to see that poor dead head, with the eyes
closed, sneeze and sneeze and sneeze ! Actu-
ally in the lifting of the head in the sneezing
act, we could hear the poor fellow's chin thump
the table on the down-stroke. That ended
the robber piece.

In the old National Theatre in Boston I saw
a similar trick used to kill a piece. The nauti-
cal drama of Black-eyed Susan was having a
rather protracted run. " Sailor Jones," as he
was called, was the great artist of his day.
Forty or fifty years ago sea-pieces formed a
considerable proportion of the melodramas in
vogue. Black-eyed Susan — ^written by Douglas
Jerrold, well known by all lovers of the nau-
tical drama — has towards the close of the
piece a very affecting scene which generally
causes sympathetic persons to shed tears. In
old times, people were not so blasi as they are
to-day ; it w^as not an infrequent thing to hear



Recollections of an Old Musician 25

some tender soul sob right out. That would
** start all pumps," to use a phrase then in use.
The boys in the pit had got tired of ** Susan."
In the scene when tears began to flow they put
up umbrellas in all directions. That caused
" Susan " and ** sweet William " to retire.

It may be interesting to young people to know
that the pit (following the English custom)
was where the present parquet is. It was level
and slightly lower than the present floor. It
was a cheap part of the house, mostly occupied
by men and boys. The first circle brought the
highest price ; the next was like our family cir-
cle. The " third row " had rather a bad char-
acter. There was a bar attached to this row,
where liquors were sold. There was also a
bar for the better class somewhere downstairs.
It took a deal of fighting to get rid of the bars
and the ** third row."

Before ending my theatre recollections I
must devote a few pages to the Viennoise
Children and their visit to Boston in 1847.
The troupe consisted of forty-eight children, all
girls, whose ages ran from twelve years to
about eighteen. These girls were collected in
the city of Vienna by Madam Josephine Weiss,
an old ballet mistress of one of the theatres.



26 Recollections of an Old Musician

The children were said to be poor waifs of the
Austrian capital, taken up, given a home, edu-
cated, and provided for by the old lady. From
the large mass of children in her care she se-
lected the shapeliest and prettiest and taught
them to dance and to do everything in the
choreographic art. The troupe had given
some public exhibitions in Vienna, which won
the admiration of the connoisseurs, and was now
to be turned to good financial account Some
agency brought them to Boston in a sailing-
ship — fifty to sixty days* voyage from Trieste.
Think of the task of caring for these forty-eight
children fifty days and nights on a sailing-
ship ! They arrived safely in Boston, and were
boarded and lodged over "old Peter Brig-
ham's" saloon on Tremont Row, the second
house south of Hanover Street

I used often to see the children, marshalled by
the old, stout ballet mistress, who, leaning on
a big stick, would give the word " Vorwarts ! "
and then they would march, two and two, like
seminary girls going out for a walk, over to
the Howard Atheneum, where they spent the
morning studying the art of dancing. It was
of course their special line, and the means by
which they earned their daily bread.

When rehearsing their pieces in the theatre,



AUOUSTE FRrES.



Recollections of an Old Musician 27

the old lady usually sat in a chair on the stage
near the orchestra leader with her big stick,
which was at once her baton of office and her
wherewithal to pound the stage while beating
time. She was wonderfully spry in her move-
ments ; sometimes she would rush in among
the children as though she could kill them,
but I never saw anything worse than a seeming
roughness. We must remember old times and
European treatment of children ; the adage,
" Don't spare the rod and spoil the child," was
the rule. To the lookers-on, these children
were apparently happy and having a good
time.

A few days after the arrival of the troupe
the momentous night of opening came. Our
orchestra had had no rehearsal with the chil-
dren (but had studied the music) ; consequently
when the curtain was raised we had our first
sight of them. I must confess in advance my
inability to describe the beauty of their per-
formance. It was simply ideal. The opening
dance was the " Pas des Fleurs," music by Max
Maretzek, — ^then an unknown name in Amer-
ica ; he came over from Europe a few years
later. The dance consisted of andante intro-
duction, a set of five waltzes, and a lengthy
finale. When the curtain rose, the children



28 Recollections of an Old Musician

were seen to be built up, about thirty of them,
in the form of a huge bouquet, round which
were two garlands or rings of flowers (children)
that swung slowly around the middle mass.
Then the latter disentangled themselves and
spread out on the stage in bunches, and
the animated movement began. Every kind
of figure was made by groups of children, —
swinging stars, chains, threading needles, and
dancing round the May-pole, which with its
long colored ribbons remained on the centre
of the stage. The music was good. Each
waltz had its appropriate dancing figures.
The finale brought all into a wild, whirling,
passionate movement, and it seemed to us at
times as if the whole thing must go to pieces ;
but the artistic plan was perfectly carried out.
The " pleasures of memory " were never more
thoroughly realized by any one than by me at
this moment of writing ; after a lapse of over
fifty years, the picture of the dancing children
is before me in its living, pulsating shape.

The whole audience was seemingly in ecstasy
with the performance. The happy, bright
faces and the gleeful play of the children
stirred up the deepest emotions of the specta-
tors. Many people were in tears. I know
that the old oboist at my elbow did not play



Recollections of an Old Musician 29

many notes during the early part of the waltz,
for tears ran down his face like rain. When
the dance finally ended and the curtain fell,
the audience was in a kind of emotional insan-
ity, and gave vent to it in wild applause. The
scenes were so wonderfully beautiful, and so
unlike anything before witnessed by a majority
of the audience, that they felt as if they had
had a dream or vision of Paradise.

During the stay of the children they per-
formed many lovely fairy ballets in two or
three acts, in which the fascinating story was
told by pantomimic action and dancing. One
of their most remarkable pieces was termed
the ** Mirror Dance." Imagine a fine, apparently
seamless lace curtain let down from the flies to
the stage, about on a line with the second en-
trance, embracing its entire width and height.
Around this net was a gilt border or frame
which made the whole resemble a mirror, all
the more perfectly because the stage behind
the lace was in darkness.

The green curtain rises. The play begins.
The children who perform represent an equal
number of boys and girls. One or two couples
shyly stray onto the stage in front, and there
are exactly similar figures and movements on
the inner side of the lace curtain. The front



30 Recollections of an Old Musician

couples discover themselves reflected in the
mirror ; they are frightened and jump back —
the rear ones of course doing the same. The
children on both sides, in shape, dress, and ac-
tion, are such perfect counterparts that the
effect is precisely as if done in front of a real
mirror. This little tentative work is repeated
a few times, but finding that the reflection
does not harm them they fear it no more ; they
grow bold ; they come on in larger numbers ;
they look in the mirror, admiring themselves
and their graceful movements, meanwhile go-
ing through with many comical performances.
Remembering that everything done before the
lace curtain is duplicated behind it, we can see
that the effect would be wonderful and beauti-
ful. The thing could only be accomplished
where girls in large numbers could be selected,
matched, and taught with most patient in-
dustry.

I cannot say what became of the company
after it left Boston. We had no Dramatic
Mirror in those days.



CHAPTER IV

IN my early years in Boston, foreign artists,
singers, and players, came to the United
States pretty much as they come now, but rel-
atively in smaller numbers. Boston was even
then quite a Mecca for instrumentalists.

Among those who made the greatest im-
pression on me were three genuine artists
who formed a little company, — Sivori, violinist,
Knoop, violoncellist, Henry Herz, pianist
The latter was spoken of with great acclaim by
the newspapers as the composer of variations
on Hotne^ Sweet Home. His position was
thereby fixed at the top round of the art ladder.
He did play his own compositions quite neatly,
also those of Rosellen and kindred composers,
and I was present when he took part in a piano
trio by Haydn ; but I fear his playing would
not pass muster in these days. The 'cellist,
Knoop, was of the regulation pattern of well-
trained virtuosi, who could play the elder
Romberg's compositions. But Sivori was
really a master violinist — ^an advance Wieni-

31



32 Recollections of an Old Musician

awski, without the latter's ability to compose
violin music. Sivori had a marvellous tech-
nique. He had been the only pupil and pro-
t6g6 of Paganini, and he played on the latter's
famous Stradivarius, left by will to him.

In the summer of '88, I spent a part of the
season in Paris. Sivori was still alive, and,
like the majority of artists who lead the lives
of virtuosi, had made Paris his home. I de-
termined to do myself the honor of calling on
him, and had an opportunity to do so in com-
pany with a Boston friend who knew him well.
Sivori was living on the fourth or fifth story of
a very modest hotel, having a single room, with
space for an upright piano and an alcove for
his bed. It was a charming, cosy little room,
just such a one as the majority of bachelor
artists occupy in Paris, no matter how ample
their income ; and in these quarters they re-
ceive the visits of princes and people of the
haute noblesse,

I let my friend, who was intimate with Sivori,
do the talking for some time, while I watched
all the artist's motions. He was a rather small-
sized man, and had very small hands for a
violinist, at which I marvelled, for his distinc-
tion was based on his being a Paganini player ;
and we all know that the music of that com-



CAMILLE SIV0R1.



Recollections of an Old Musician 33

poser requires the fingers of a prestidigitator.
As we progressed in our call I nudged my friend
(according to previous agreement) to tell
Sivori I was a member of the Mendels-
sohn Quintette Club of Boston, and that I
wanted very much to see the famous " Strad,"
the inheritance from Paganini. Sivori was
amiability itself.

I should have said at the start that he was
preparing to sally forth for his cUjeuner when
we called, but he did not hesitate to receive
us, though he was at the moment in the most
unconventional of costumes. He was the gen-
tleman and ban camarade from first to last

Sivori took out the violin from its case. It
was a perfect " Kohinoor " of an instrument,
just the right color, and perfectly preserved, —
not a scratch or a crack, — ^with the great seal of
red sealing-wax on the under part of the violin
where the neck begins. I told Mr. Sivori
that I heard him in his first concert given in
the old Masonic Temple in Boston (where R.
H. Stearns & Co.'s store now is), that I was
an enthusiastic boy at the time, and that his
playing had made such an impression on me
that I could name the pieces he played in that
concert, though there was an interim of about
forty years. I named them, — the E-flat concerto



34 Recollections of an Old Musician

(his own composition), La Campanile by Paga-
nini, and the Mosi in Egitto^ also by Paganini.

The old artist opened his bookcase, took
out a book containing an itinerary of musi-
cal tournies made in his younger days, and
turned at once to Boston. I had named the
pieces exactly, and he was highly pleased.
He played for us a great deal, and it was a
joy to hear the tone of that violin ; it was also
impossible not to be affected by the sentiment
connected with it. Paganini's violin ! the in-
strument of that strange and wonderful player,
the wizard of the concert stage, who had con-
quered all musical Europe.

My friend and I began to feel that we must
not prolong our visit, but Sivori wanted to
show us his numerous presents received from
kings and courts. He told us some very funny
stories, one of which I will repeat.

The famous impresario^ Ulman, well known
in America, had engaged four of the greatest
living violinists for a little concert trip. It
was arranged that at their concerts these vir-
tuosi should each play a solo and then play
together the well-known concerto for four
violins by Maurer. One night Sivori was
greatly dissatisfied with the trill he had made
in the famous Trill du Viable by Tartini.



Recollections of an Old Musician 35

Leonard, an equally famous violinist, and he
were sharing a very large room in the hotel.
Sivori was nervous and could not sleep. The
trill haunted him ; he got out of bed, partly
dressed himself, took out his fiddle, put a mute
on it, and, going to the remotest corner from
where Leonard lay peacefully sleeping, he be-
gan practising the trill in the softest pianissimo.
Doubtless he made a peculiar, scratchy, mouse-
nibbling kind of noise, and it awoke Leonard,
who, thinking it was a mouse, reached out for
one of his boots and fired it at the corner in
order to scare away the supposed mouse. It
was a good shot, for it hit Sivori in the middle
of the back, causing an outcry which prevented
Leonard from making a second shot. The
two comrades had something to laugh over for
quite a while.

To return to the fact that I had been able
to name the pieces played by Sivori after so
long an interim : it may seem extraordinary.
It is, and yet is not I argue that any young
lawyer who heard Daniel Webster or Rufus
Choate speak for the first time would remem-
ber to the end of his days the subject of
cither's oratory.

In the summer of 1847, we had a visit from



36 Recollections of an Old Musician

a very complete Italian opera troupe. At
that period of Boston's social history, it was
not the fashion to leave the city for the sum-
mer ; therefore the citizens were as eager to
welcome a good entertainment in summer as
in winter.

This Havana troupe was notable for its
corps of fine singers, among them being some
of the world's foremost artists. Tedesco, the
soprano, was truly a great dramatic singer.
After the Boston season was over, she went to
Paris, and easily won the first place in all
European opera houses. Then there was
Vita, the contralto, a splendid singer, second
only to Alboni. Then came Perelli, the tenor,
who was a fine singer, a thorough musician,
and a remarkable pianist. This artist after
leaving Boston made his home in Philadelphia
There was also Novelli, a magnificent basso,
who became well known in Boston, as he visited
that city many times subsequently.

The opera had a good effective chorus, and
a complete orchestra, with Arditi (afterward
so well known) as maestro, or conductor, and
first violin, — it being the custom in those days
for the leader to beat time with his bow,
playing on his violin when he desired to assist
or to animate his men. This fashion still pre-



Recollections of an Old Musician 37

vails in many parts of the world. Johann
Strauss, the famous waltz composer, played
the violin when conducting his compositions
in the second Gilmore Jubilee. His brother
Eduard, who more recently visited this coun-
try with his own orchestra, conducted in the
same way. I must not omit to say that Ar-
diti was a true virtuoso on the violin.

To return to our little history of the Havana
Opera Company. They had for contrabasso
the world-renowned Bottesini, a veritable
Paganini on his big instrument. The troupe
performed but three times per week. That
also was the prevailing custom of the day.

The company supported itself on those three
performances, and yet the prices of admission
were only fifty, cents and one dollar ; the
former admitting to the gallery. We can in-
fer that the honorariums to the artist were
modest in comparison to those of the present
day. It may be added that their social stand-
ing was quite different from what it is now.
Most of them lived in the Pemberton Hotel,
adjoining the theatre, and it was certainly a
hotel of modest pretension.

It was customary for the troupe to give con-
certs in the theatre on Saturday evenings, on
which occasions Arditi and Bottesini played



38 Recollections of an Old Musician

solos. On one of those evenings a very droll
incident occurred. While Arditi was per-
forming a violin solo on the stage, a gentleman
in the balcony nearest the stage became so ex-
cited over Arditi's tours deforce that in order
to manifest his approbation he resorted to a
most extraordinary device. He began by
throwing his white kid gloves at Arditi's feet,
then his light walking-cane, and finally his hat.
I forget whether his coat and vest did or did
not follow ; certainly it seems as if that would
have been a natural sequence. At this junc-
ture a couple of ushers came upon the scene,
and great applause and cheering went up from
the audience ; but whether for Arditi or his
admirer in the balcony I cannot say. For a
long time, " Oh, take my hat ! " was a popular
slang phrase.

About a dozen years ago I called on Mr.
Arditi in N^w York, on his return to America
as director with Madame Patti. When my
card was handed him he was talking with a
number of brother artists. I was politely re-
ceived, and introduced to the gentlemen ; and
after a few minutes of conversation with Ar-
diti I asked him if he remembered the scene
in the Howard Theatre when the man in the
balcony began throwing his outfit on the stage.



ALLEN T. BROWN.



Recollections of an Old Musician 39

The moment I put the question he recalled the
incident with great amusement ; and, with a
zest and volubility possessed only by Italians,
retold the story to the artists present, who
greeted it with outbursts of laughter.

Returning again to the Havana Opera Com-
pany, there was a story current (remember
that humbug is as old as the world and that
skilful agents were even then industriously
" working up business " ) that Marti, the man-
ager, had been for many years a terror to the
island of Cuba, and indeed to the entire West
India Islands, as pirate and smuggler, a
veritable buccaneer — a, kind of man who really
once existed in the flesh ; nor is it so very
many years ago since gentry of his kind
operated in all the southern waters. To the
city of Havana Marti was a pest No vessel
could go in or out of the harbor without pay-
ing tribute to him. The Governor-General of
Cuba offered a large reward for Marti's head,
dead or alive. The reward did not bring the
head. There was no change for a long time
in the pestiferous ways of Marti.

Finally an envoy of his reached the Gov-
ernor with a message to the effect that Marti
was tired of his profession and wished to make
the following proposition :



40 Recollections of an Old Musician

He, Marti, would give up his terrible trade,
destroy all other pirates in the vicinity, and
become a good citizen of the city of Havana,
if they would pardon him in full for all previ-
ous misdeeds. By way of proper compensa-
tion for the loss of so profitable a business,
he hoped the Governor would allow him the
monopoly of the fresh-fish trade of the city of
Havana Such a monopoly in a large Catho-
lic community means a great fortune. As a
quid pro quo, Marti would support, for a term
of years, an Italian opera company made up of
the finest artists, without any subvention from
the government or aristocracy of the island.

The proposition was disdained at first and
the piracy was continued. Eventually a com-
promise was effected ; the free opera was too
tempting a bait not to be eagerly swallowed
by people of the Spanish and Cuban tempera-
ment. Marti opened the fish-market, carried
out all his promises, and became a law-abiding
citizen. In due time he collected a bona fide
opera troupe, which delighted the citizens of
Havana for years.

Something inspired Marti to bring his troupe
to Boston. They came from Cuba in a sailing
vessel, and gave opera at the Howard Theatre
for about two months during two consecutive



Recollections of an Old Musician 41

summers. The average of the performances
was good. The operas were by Verdi, Bellini,
Donizetti, Mercadante, Rossini-r— all up-to-date
Italian works. The troupe was well sup-
ported, being a great novelty and delight to
Bostonians ; it was also the advance-guard of
the many opera troupes afterward brought to
our city by enterprising managers.

Is there not a tempting chance here for
some lover of that side of the art to write a
brief history of the various opera troupes which
have visited this country? They have done
their share of inculcating a taste for music

For a while opera meant Italian music only ;
then, with Martha and Stradella, came a
sprinkling of the lighter class of German
operas. The mixture was healthy and pre-
pared our people for the greater things yet to
come. Finally the red-letter day dawned which
brought me a degree of happiness that I shall
never forget. Max Maretzek had an opera
troupe in the Federal Street Theatre. He
brought out Mozart's Don Giovanni^ with the
fine singer Bosio as "Zerlini." Perhaps my
pleasure was heightened by the fact that the
director used my score. The copy is one
of the earliest published, with the German
title-page, Don Juan ; or, The Stone Ghost ; a



42 Recollections of an Old Musician

Comic Opera in Two Acts. Some few years
later; Fidelia, by Beethoven, was performed
in the Boston Theatre, and at last we heard
the finest music-dramas ; and probably no
greater enjoyment will ever be derived from
any future performance of them than we got
from that first one. Of that I am satisfied.



CHAPTER V

IN my early days in Boston, series of con-
certs were given in the Federal Street
Theatre, on the corner of Franklin Street, by
the so-called Boston Academy of Music. There
was always a goodly number of music-lovers in
Boston, — and we cannot give too much credit
to the pioneers who did the ploughing and
seeding of musical taste. " The Boston Acad-
emy of Music " was formed and named in 1833,
by Messrs. William C. Woodbridge, Lowell
Mason, and a few kindred souls, who laid out
this ambitious but beneficent programme :

1. To establish schools of vocal music and
juvenile classes.

2. To establish similar classes for adults.

3. To form a class for instruction in the
methods of teaching music

4. To form an association of choristers and
leading members of choirs for the purpose of
improvement in church music

5. To establish a course of popular lectures
on the nature and object of church music

43



44 Recollections of an Old Musician

6. To have scientific lectures.

7. To give exhibition concerts.

8. To introduce vocal music into schools.

9. To publish circulars and essays.

The Academy, after a few years of action on
this basis, resolved itself into an organization
of music-lovers and amateur instrumentalists,
assisted by professionals, making an orchestra
of perhaps forty, and gave concerts.

The programmes were of very mixed music,
but aspiring to the best Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony was brought out by them for the
first time in Boston. Each programme was gen-
erally made up of a French opera overture, one
or two instrumental solos by members of the or-
chestra or strangers, a movement from an easy
symphony, a potpourri, and a few vocal pieces.

The President of the Society, at the time of
which I am writing, was Gen. B. F. Ed-
mands, a most amiable man and an efficient
worker. I was engaged by him as one of the
second violins. He saw that I was an ambi-
tious boy, and took a fancy to me. That am-
bition got me into a little trouble later on, and
was the cause of a bit of musical history of the
times worth recording.

Before coming to Boston I had played second
clarinet in the Dublin (Ireland) Philharmonic



Recollections of an Old Musician 45

Society. I n the season of 1 844-45, that Society
brought out the Scotch Symphony and the
Midsummer Nighfs Dream overture, by Men-
delssohn. When I made the acquaintance of
General Edmands, I took the liberty of telling
him that Mendelssohn's music was in great fa-
vor in Europe, and urged him to get the above
works. They were sent for. When received,
it was discovered that no score had come.

We must remember that fifty years ago
there were not many professional musicians of
sufficient technical ability to cope with Men-
delssohn's music, which even to-day is classified
as difficult. Our orchestra was made up half
of amateurs and half of professionals. We could
have no lightning-express trains in tempo;
most music was played tempo commodo. All
trains were accommodation trains. " Music
was made for man, and not man for music."
Those were the governing principles, and in
general furnished the motive power.

One other point to remember is the fact that
in old days an overture generally meant a big,
noisy, pompous, slam-bang affair, intended for
a curtain-raiser to an opera, — ^a certain festive
noise to be made while people were tumbling
into their seats, or looking around to see who
had come, etc. This type of overture was the



46 Recollections of an Old Musician

only one the average player had any acquaint-
ance with ; indeed, in point of history, we must
not overlook the fact that Mendelssohn was
the creator of the so-called romantic overture,
under which head come Fingars Cave^ Calm
Sea^ Ruy Blas^ etc. Therefore, when I say
that the Midsummer Night's Dream was taken
up for the first time by our orchestra, all cul-
tured persons who are familiar with that deli-
cate, fairy-like composition may well smile to
think that any but experts should attempt the
difficult feat of playing it.

Well, we tried it. Our conductor was Mr.
Geo. J.Webb, — an excellent general musician,
but who had never heard the overture. He
began by telling us that he had no score ; so
he stood up alongside of the first-violin desk
and prepared to conduct. Rapping on the
desk, he gave the signal to begin ; out piped
two flutes, — nothing else. He rapped again,
implying that the players had not been ready
to begin ; then he said, " We will try again."
He gave the signal — and out piped the two
flutes. That caused a little titter of surprise, and
we all looked quizzically at each other. Mr.
Webb, however, dutifully gave the signal for
the next "hold " or chord, when two clarinets
joined the two flutes! More surprise. At



QEOnOE JAMES WEBB.



Recollections of an Old Musician 47

the third hold (chord) the fagotti and horns
were added, and at the fourth hold (chord) the
entire wood and lyind instruments, all sounding
most distressingly out of tune. This dissonant
and unlooked-for result was followed by a dead
pause ; then every one of the players broke out
with a hearty laugh of derision.

I was on pins and needles and muttered,
" Go on, go on ! " After a while the people
sobered down, and we tried to commence with
the string part. The first and second violins
(each relative part divided into two parts)
began at an "accommodation-train" tempo.
At the end of the violin passage, the wood and
wind again held a very dissonant chord for
two measures, which this time sounded so
abominably out of tune that it really was as
bad as if each man played any note he pleased ;
and it was so irresistibly funny that again
everybody burst out laughing. But I buried
my head under the music desk and cried ; my
idol was derided, every one poked fun at me.

That last dissonant chord ended the first
rehearsal of the Midsummer Ntghfs Dream
overture. We never tried it again.

Time, however, set me right. A few years
later, the Germania Musical Society visited
Boston. The Germania was a fine orchestra



48 Recollections of an Old Musician

of about thirty artists, and every one could
play well his part. Their first concert was
given on April 14th. Their ptice de resistance
was the overture to Midsummer Night's Dream,
and it was beautifully played. So I had my
revenge and could poke fun at my fellow-
players by saying, " Now you can hear what
Mendelssohn is as a composer." (The overture
was written in 1826, when he was only seven-
teen years old, as everybody should know.)

This is the programme of the Germania
concert :

1. Overture to " Zampa " . . . Hdrold,

2. Waltz, " The Pesther " . . . . Lanner.

3. Fantaisie for Violin .... Ernst,

Mr. Wm. Schultze.

4. Betty Polka Lenschow.

5. Overture, " Midsummer Night's Dream,"

Mendelssohn.

6. Variations on Swiss Air for the Flute,

Boehm.
Mr. Pfeiffer.

7. Finale, " Siege of Corinth " . . . Rossini.

8. Festival Overture, Dedicated to the President of

the United States, General Taylor . Lenschow.

9. Waltz, " Sounds from the Heart " . . Strauss.
10. Panorama of Broadway, New York. "A de-
scriptive potpourri, received with the greatest
applause by large and fashionable audiences,"
arranged by Lenschaw.



CHAPTER VI

I AM well aware that I am not writing quite in
chronological order. I never kept notes,
and do not know a person who can set me right
if I put anything on record awry. I am al-
most the last of the " old guard." I was for
many years the youngest musician in Boston ;
now perhaps I am the oldest, and still in
harness. I can make a fair record, in substance,
of the rise and fall of the different societies,
and that is about all the value which can be
attached to it.

Contemporary with the Academy of Music
was the Philharmonic Society. The former
was under the guidance of men like Mr.
Geo. J. Webb, Mr. Lowell Mason, Mr.
Woodbridge, Mr. John S. Dwight, and Gen.
B. F. Edmands. The Philharmonic was, I
think, a younger society, with Mr. Edward
Riddle as President, — a well-known amateur
flute-player, father of Mr. Geo. Riddle, the
elocutionist. The musical director was Mr.
Schmidt, — ^a good musician and a violin vir-

49



50 Recollections of an Old Musician

tuoso. I think that each society had from four
to six years of life before it went to pieces.

On the ruins of these two societies was
organized and incorporated " The Musical
Fund Society " in the year 1852. It was com-
posed exclusively of professionals, and was the
first society so organized in Boston. It was char-
tered by the State of Massachusetts and em-
powered to hold property to a certain amount
and to give concerts in aid of sick members.
The chief officers were members of the Society,
but there was a board of directors and coun-
cil of advice chosen from the most active and
prominent music supporters, perhaps seventy-
five in number.

The Society began its concerts in the old
Melodeon Hall, where Keith's Theatre now
stands, next door to the Boston Theatre. The
finances were managed on the co-operative
plan ; that is, there was an equal division of
the profits, the man at the drums getting
just as much as the leader of the violins. The
director received no pay, the honor being
considered a sufficient reward. Soloists who
were members of the Society received an
honorarium of fifteen dollars.

The " rise and fall " in the history of all
such societies is so monotonously similar that



Recollections of an Old Musician 5 1

one grows weary of writing about it. The
Musical Fund, which was no exception to the
rule, started off with flying colors and a large
subscription, every one rushing to put their
names on the list. The orchestra, which num-
bered about fifty players, did fairly good work
for the times. The symphonies played were
by Pleyel, Haydn, and Kalliwoda ; also the easy
ones of Mozart and the early ones of Beethoven.
Every musical person can imagine the kind of
music given. The orchestra had the assistance
of vocal soloists, both foreign and native.

The first two seasons' concerts were given
in the Melodeon. This hall, which held about
nine hundred and was admirable for sound,
proved to be too small to hold the audiences,
so the Society moved to the Tremont Temple,
which accommodated about fifteen hundred
persons. After a few seasons of popularity
there was a falling off in the attendance, fol-
lowed by two seasons that ended without any
money to divide ; but we kept on all the same,
for we had not formed the Society to make
money, but rather to improve ourselves in the
art of music. A good many small gifts of
money came from patrons, and the munificent
sum of a thousand dollars was contributed by
Jenny Lind.



52 Recollections of an Old Musician

The Society gave concerts for about six
years, but was plainly moribund. The Ger-
mania Musical Society, which had been in
Boston for two seasons, really gave the coup de
grdce to the Musical Fund Society by its fine
orchestra and its superior performances.

Our Society, having resolved to give no more
concerts, was changed into a benefit organiza-
tion. The money in the treasury was liberally
paid out to sick members or for funeral ex-
penses, and in donations to widows ; one after
another the members dropped out, and when
the money was gone, all was over.

Many of my pleasantest memories are con-
nected with the workings of the Fund Society.
Mr. Webb was the first conductor, followed
by "old Tom Comer." The latter, a charac-
ter in Boston, was well known and beloved.
He was of Irish extraction and originally an
actor. He had a passion for music — could
compose a little, played the violin tolerably
well, was leader of an orchestra in the Boston
Museum for many years, and afterwards in the
Boston Theatre. He was just the man for
the times, — ^popular on all sides, "hand and
glove " with every one, as the old saying went,
and was a valuable president for the Fund
Society.



Recollections of an Old Musician 53

One of his financial appeals in behalf of the
Society is worth putting on record. He de-
cided to perform Haydn's Farewell Symphony.
To explain the origin and character of this
piece of music I must give a bit of history.

In the" good old days" our grandfathers
used to talk about, when kings, princes, and pre-
lates of the European states were leeching the
life-blood out of the people, every aristocratic
worthy lived on a big, showy scale, surrounded
by a large retinue of followers, including mu-
sicians. Every grandee had his own orchestra,
or its equivalent on a somewhat lesser scale.
The most famous composers and musicians of
the day were in the service of some prince or no-
bleman. For them no other life was possible ;
if they did not have the patronage, or were not
under the wing, of the high and mighty, they
had no way nor right to live. Mozart served
for a while with the Bishop of Salzburg, and
Haydn served his long life with Prince Ester-
hazy. To this unfortunate, or perhaps fortu-
nate system, as we choose to look at it, may be
attributed the marvellous amount of chamber
music written by those composers. New
work for the entertainment of guests must be
always forthcoming.

It happened that at one period in the life of



f:



54 Recollections of an Old Musician

Esterhazy his finances were in a pinched con-
dition, and he had determined to discharge a
goodly portion of his orchestra. That struck
grief and sorrow into the heart of Haydn, and
he determined to write a suitable farewell sym-
phony. He composed it and produced it be-
fore the court The symphony was scored at
the beginning for the usual number of players,
but in the course of its performance the audi-
ence noticed that two bassoons, two oboi, and
two clarinets quietly shut up their books, put
the extinguishers on their candles, and retired
very softly and sadly. Other couples did like-
wise till only a quartette of the strings remained.
Haydn, who had appeared to be absorbed in
his work as conductor, suddenly discovered
that he was left almost alone, looked round in
sorrow, heaved a big sigh, and ended the per-
formance. History relates that the ruse was
successful ; the scene was so pathetic that the
Prince concluded to retain his orchestra.

This pretty little drama was re-enacted by
the Fund Society in the old Tremont Temple ;
but alas ! there was no prince to come to the
rescue. The Society had evidently served its
time and purpose, and shortly after it ceased
active operations.

One stroke of misfortune was reserved for



Recollections of an Old Musician 55

the close of its career. On a Saturday night
in the coldest part of the winter, the Society
gave a concert. When it was over the musi-
cians discovered that the streets were in a very
slippery and dangerous condition from the rain
that froze as it fell, and a large number of them,
fearing to carry their instruments to their
homes, left them in the office of the Temple.
That part of the building took fire that very
night, and all the instruments, music, and prop-
erties of the Society were destroyed.



CHAPTER VII

IN the winter of 1846 the first moderately
complete orchestra, known as the Steyer-
mark Orchestra, came to the United States
from Europe. They numbered about twenty
men, good players, with Francis Riha as first
violin and director, who afterward became the
second violin of the Mendelssohn Quintette
Club. They played mostly light dance music,
overtures, potpourris, and solos. They did
everything with great " chic " or " snap," which
was a new thing to our people.

Riha was an exceedingly handsome young
man, graceful in every motion, very talented
in composition, and a fine violinist. The art-
ists wore the picturesque Steyermark country
uniform. They had little clinking, cymbal-like
bits of metal attached to the heels of their long
boots, and when playing certain characteristic
pieces they used to knock their heels together
and produce a clear, lively sound which " took "
with the audience. They played nightly for
about a month in the old Melodeon and then

56



Recollections of an Old Musician 57

went off on a concert tour. They returned to
Boston after a while, but the novelty was gone,
and their concerts were poorly patronized, so
they soon bade us farewell and once more
started out to " seek their fortunes." One after
another the performers finally dropped out of
the company and settled in various cities, the
director, Francis Riha, coming back to Boston.

Sometime in 1848, another organization,
styling itself the Lombardi Orchestra, visited
us. It was made up of the remnants of an
Italian opera orchestra which had ended oper-
ations in New York, and came to Boston on a
venture, with August Fries as leader and first
violin.

It met its fate in Boston and went to pieces ;
some of the artists remaining there, chief among
whom was Mr. Fries, a valuable musician, who
became the main founder and leader of the
Mendelssohn Quintette Club.

The next orchestra which came to our city
was the Saxonia, with Mr. Carl Eckhardt as
leader. They played well, but had no finan-
cial success, and disbanded in Boston ; many
of their best men, such as Messrs. Eichler,
Stein, Pinter, and the leader, settled there. Mr.
Eckhardt was an excellent musician and violin-
ist. He remained in Boston for a number of



58 Recollections of an Old Musician

years, then moved to Columbus, Ohio, and
has been up to date the director of music in
that city.

In April, 1848, an orchestra which held to-
gether six years came to this country, and
became quite famous,— ^the aforementioned
Germania Musical Society. It numbered
about thirty artists, Mr. Lenschow being the
leader. They played much classic music, —
their "crack piece" being the Midsummer
Night's Dream overture. The orchestra was
made up of genuine, fine artists, among them
Mr. William Schultze, who became the first
violin of the Mendelssohn Quintette on the
retirement of August Fries in 1859 — ^1^^ tenth
year pf the Club.

Schultze was about twenty-two years old
when he first came to Boston. He had a
good, lithe figure, and a handsome, prepos-
sessing face — a face which easily flushed and
showed every feeling of modesty or pleasure.
It is easy to infer that female admiration laid
siege to the heart of this ideal "first violin,"
and he became the pet of musical Boston.
He was a fine violinist, a good general mu-
sician, something of a linguist, always a stu-
dent, yet a most genial, society-loving person,
and one of the best story-tellers in the world.



WILLIAM SCHULT2E.



Recollections of an Old Musician 59

Schultze was the first violin of the Quintette
Club for nearly twenty years.

There were other good men and artists of
the Germania who must also be remembered.
Carl Zerrahn was first flute, — a fine player and
an excellent man in every relation of life. He
is too well known all through the country to
need any panegyric from me. Carl Bergmann
made his first appearance with the Society as
trombonist, afterward as 'cellist, and was also
a good violinist and pianist. Carl Sentz, the
leading second violin, was afterward director of
music in Philadelphia for many years.

Mr. Carl Meisel, the " well-beloved " in Bos-
ton, played at the same desk with Schultze.
He succeeded Mr. Riha as second violin with
the Mendelssohn Quintette, 1854, in the fifth
year of the Club.

When the Germania Society came to
America they played part of a season in New
York and Philadelphia, and then came to
Boston, where they gave a lengthy series
of concerts, extending over an entire sea-
son. The following season they went to
Baltimore and had a similar success. Mr.
Lenschow, the leader, finally resigned and
settled there.

Carl Bergmann succeeded Lenschow as con-



6o Recollections of an Old Musician

ductor. He was a talented composer, and was
distinctly a man of great attainments in every
line of the art of music. Like Mr. Lenschow,
he was a wonderful arranger of musical com-
positions calculated to win popularity, — ^an es-
sential thing for all artists who have to work
for their bread and butter, — among which was
a potpourri called Up Broadway that became
a great favorite. It was supposed to be a
graphic tone-picture of sights and sounds seen
and heard from Castle Garden to Union
Square, which was at that time the boundary
of New York's bustling life.

This potpourri began with a musical picture
of Castle Garden, which was the home, and
the only one, good music had at that time in
that city. Moving up with the musical diorama,
you next came to Barnum's Museum, with
" Barnum's Band " of six or eight brass instru-
ments, which, as all old New Yorkers know,
played all day long on a high balcony outside
his Museum on Broadway, nearly opposite the
Astor House. It was side-splitting to hear the
imitation of this brass band. One can even
now occasionally enjoy a faint resemblance of
it in passing a dime museum.

The report was current that Bamum's play-
ers were made to pay a little money for the



Recollections of an Old Musician 6i

privilege of practising and playing in public.
I don't vouch for its truthfulness, but the story
went that a man made application to play the
trombone on the balcony with the combina-
tion, who, like all musicians, was a very modest
man, and did not like to mention the word pay
or salary. He was told that he could play.
At the end of the week he plucked up courage
enough to appear before Mr. Barnum and
timidly ask for his wages. Phineas was quite
ready with his little bill per contra : " John
Smith, to P. T. Barnum, Dr., for the privilege
of playing on the balcony of Museum one week
in public, nine dollars."

Returning to the potpourri, a firemen's pa-
rade with brass band came next. Naturally
it was preceded by a violent ringing of fire-
bells, and a rushing down a side street with
" the machine." When that noise died away,
music from the open door of a dance hall was
heard ; with of course all its accompaniments,
— ^the rhythm of dancing feet, and the calling
out of the figures. Then, moving on with the
diorama, we passed by a church whence came
the sound of organ music and the chanting of
a service by a number of voices. After that
we heard in the distance a faint kind of Turk-
ish patrol music ; then a big crescendo and sud-



62 Recollections of an Old Musician

dj^Vi fortissimo introduced us to Union Square
and its life ; and two brass bands in two differ-
ent keys prepared our nerves for the usual
collision and fight between two opposing fire
companies. This latter made a great sensa-
tion. Finally, fireworks were touched off, the
Star-Spangled Banner was played, and the pot-
pourri ended, sending every one home in smil-
ing good-humor.

The Germania was a big success in Boston.
Subscription lists twenty feet long (no ex-
aggeration) could be seen in the music stores
for a series of twenty-four Saturday evenings,
and the same number of public rehearsals on
Wednesday afternoons. These public rehears-
als were the first ever given in Boston, and, if
I mistake not, the first given anywhere. Cer-
tainly the system did not prevail in Europe, for
I distinctly remember that some combination
carried out the idea in London, and it was
commented on there as " following the Ameri-
can plan."

The Germania held together about six years
—most of the time in Boston. They made
many short trips in New England, and one
tournde with Jenny Lind. Their summers were
profitably spent in Newport. In the last two
seasons they added as stars the f^tmpus girl-



Recollections of an Old Musician 6^

violinist, Camilla Urso, and Alfred Jaell, pian-
ist Madame Urso is too well known to need
any eulogy at my hands. She is one of the
very few young wonders who developed into
great artists at maturity. Jaell was a splendid
pianist. If he were playing at the present
day, he would bear comparison with the great-
est living players. When the Germania dis-
banded, he went to Paris, made his home in
that city, and won a popularity which he never
lost. He died very recently.

The Germania were the first to play in Bos-
ton the C'Major Symphony of Schubert, the
Ninth Symphony by Beethoven, and the Tannr
hduser overture.

In 1854 the Society disbanded. The men
were tired of travelling ; they wanted to set-
tle down ; and the cities of Baltimore, Phila-
delphia, New York, and Boston were enriched
by their presence. Bergmann went to New
York, and was elected conductor of the New
York Philharmonic Society, which position he
held for many years. He died about twelve
years ago.

I give a copy of the programme of a typical
concert given by the Germania, January 28,
1854 ; assisted by Mrs. Emma A. Wentworth,
soprano, and Mr. Robert Heller, pianist



^4 Recollections of an Old Musician

I. JUBSL OvERTURS .... Idndpaintmr,
3. Valss Strauss.

3. Terzetti, from " Attila " ... Verdi.

4. Cavatina ..... Meyerbeer.

Mrs. Went WORTH.

5. Rondo for Piano .... Mendelssohn.

Mr. Heller.

6. Potpourri Bergmann,

7. Quadrille French.

8. Overture, '^ Midsummer Night's Dream/'

Mendelssohn.

9. Galop Lumbye.

10. Song, " List to the Lark "... Comer.

Mrs. Wentworth.

11. Overture, " Siege of Corinth " Rossini.

Tickets J SO cents. Begin 7 jo.



CHAPTER VIII

TH E success of the Germania was the cause
of much trumpeting all over Europe that
America was a country which wanted music
and would pay for it. The Revolution of
1848 made a big bouleversement of everything
social and political. Many people had to leave
their country suddenly, and the great wave of
emigration from continental Europe then be-
gan. Germany, Austria, France, and Italy
were in a frightful financial and political con-
dition, brought on by the epidemic of revolu-
tion, which was in plainer language an aspiration
for freedom. That " gasp " was choked for a
while, but the spirit is still " marching on."
Many of our best immigrant musicians came to
America at that period ; among whom were the
Germania, and, one year later (in 1849), the
famous Gungl Orchestra, from Berlin, with
the composer at its head. Their venture was
2, fiasco. The orchestra numbered about
twenty-five. They did not play so well as the
Germania, consequently did not have the ele-

' 65



66 Recollections of an Old Musician

ments of a possible success. About the only
souvenir I have of their visit is the hour I
spent at the first rehearsal of the new waltz
Traum des Oceans — a fine waltz, probably
Gungl's best, which was written while on his
voyage to America. Gungl did not give many
concerts in Boston, and I think that shortly
after his visit he returned to Germany. It is
my impression that he did not take many of
his men back with him.

Perhaps the most important visit made by
any orchestral society was that of JuUien, in
1853, who brought with him from forty-five to
fifty men.

Jullien was a versatile genius, and in all
respects a very remarkable man. His ability
as a soloist on many instruments was extraor-
dinary. I remember hearing him, when I was
a boy, in Manchester, England, perform solos
on the violin, piccolo, althorn, French horn,
cornet, and trombone, — one instrument after
the other, — displaying virtuosity on each. He
was well known to be a fine violinist, which
means that he must have had a natural bent for
music ; and he had given to it the usual slavish
devotion — ^without which, dear admirer of the
violin, do not expect to be anything of a player
yourself, or to hear a player worth listening to.



MARIE BARN A.



Recollections of an Old Musician 67

The French horn is a very fascinating in-
strument, but it is an extremely difficult thing
to attain anything like a mastery of it. The
man who plays it well can easily master a cor-
net or althom. The trombone is also diffi-
cult, but it is a case of family connection ; and
when you have been thoroughly introduced to
one member, the brothers, sisters, and cousins
stand with outstretched hand, ready to be
wooed. The piccolo needs practice, but with
the right kind of lips and a year's study, any
clever musician will be enabled to astonish an
ordinary audience.

According to the current history of his day,
JuUien had been an officer in the French army,
and was obliged to leave his country on ac-
count of the inevitable duel. How often they
happen, and how convenient for public charac-
ters that the chroniclers of the same are so
handy! It immediately arouses admiration
to have fought a duel on account of a
woman, and though never a scratch is re-
ceived, it is bound to awaken a good deal of
interest in the public. JuUien, according to
report, had to leave France. He took refuge
in England, played his musical abilities as
trumps, and won every game.

This bold, venturesome character discerned



68 Recollections of an Old Musician

with rare acuteness the musical needs of the
London metropolis, which up to his time had
had no concerts but those given by the old
societies, which performed classic and an-
cient music only, and that doubtless in " old-
fogy " style.

JuUien saw his chance, gathered together a
large orchestra, mainly of virtuosi on their
respective instruments, and gave promenade
concerts at one shilling. The plan was thor-
oughly successful. For years he carried all by
storm. He gave monster concerts in Covent
Garden or Drury Lane Theatre with immense
orchestras and military bands. He made and
lost fortunes ; but he always contrived to se-
cure great players, and paid them generously,
which was a new feature in English musical
history.

He had the ability to compose stunning big
things, like the Royal Irish Quadrilles, ditto
Scotch, ditto English, with endless polkas,
waltzes, and other dance music. He put to-
gether every extraordinary instrument which
he could employ ; any and every thing which
would make an effective noise, from " jingling
Johnnies" to church-bells, cannon, and fire-
works — ^he used them all, and became the
great popular favoritet His music arranged



Recollections of an Old Musician 69

for the pianoforte sold all over England, every
piece having his faC'Simile autograph stamp
on the lower right-hand comer, which helped
to bring him in a share of the profits.

London likes great shows as well as good
artistic things. JulHen was just the man for
the period in which he worked, and certainly
he thoroughly exploited his versatility.

He was a master hand at catching the eye
as well as the ear. At times he would lay out
a small fortune in decorating the stage with
plants and flowers ; he knew that the artistic
and picturesque must never be overlooked.
The English love flowers ; JuUien recognized
the fact. They also like well-dressed people.
JuUien was a rather handsome (if showy) man,
portly, full-faced, wore side-whiskers only, and
always got himself up for public show " utterly
regardless," wearing a "miraculous tie," an
" immaculate " white vest, and a costly diamond
in his expansive shirt-front. I forget whether
he wore lace cuffs or not, but he always sported
a broad blue ribbon across his vest, with a
decoration at his throat.

He had a dais built in the centre of the or-
chestra, the floor of which was covered with
white cloth having a gold-lace border. On
the dais he had a splendid arm-chair of white



70 Recollections of an Old Musician

and gold When he directed, he stood up and
faced the audience, his string forces being on
either hand, part way between him and the audi-
ence, but leaving him in full view ; and the
wood and wind were on each side, with the
brass in the rear. In conducting dance music
or anything of a distinctly rhythmical character,
he would mark the rhythm so graphically with
his baton that people actually saw it at the end
of his stick. They could not mistake that, if
they had eyes. No one was allowed to go to
sleep. When the various soli obligati were
forthcoming, he would turn to the players
thereof ; and the audience then saw him con-
duct that little or big phrase, give emphasis
and expression to it, and coax it out with his
baton — his wizard baton — in such a way that
seeing and hearing were simply one fact
JuUien did it all.

He was in truth a hard-working man. At
the end of a piece he would drop down into
the splendid arm-chair, mop his face, and ap-
pear to be in a state of collapse, which drew
out enormous applause. Then the great man
would acknowledge the homage with really
graceful thanks. It was a great sight — alone
worth the price of admission.

JuUien spent money like a king among mu-



Recollections of an Old Musician 71

sicians. He took his large band to all the
prominent cities and towns in Great Britain,
losing and making money by turns. With the
same spirit of venturesome confidence, he
brought his great orchestra to America, and
with them Mile. Anna Zerr, a world-renowned
soprano singer.

The musicians were a splendid set He had
Bottesini, the Paganini of the contrabass, and
Koenig, the great cometist of the day, who
could play with wonderful expression, his
rendition of the Prima Donna Waltz being
really an artistic marvel. Then there was the
oboist, Lavigne, playing with exquisite tone
and fine technique, who could hold a tone (it
was said) all the evening by breathing through
his nostrils while playing. Then there was
the necromantic flautist, Reichardt, the very
fine clarinetist, Wuille, and an ophicleide-
player, Mr. Hughes, who drew out of his in-
strument a wonderfully soft, large, and mellow
tone, and played with great execution. Among
the first violins were the brothers MoUenhauer,
who were famous as players of duets, and who
finally settled in this country. In fact so large
an array of virtuosi has not visited the United
States since JuUien's day.

The orchestra played a fair share of classic



72 Recollections of an Old Musician

music, alternating with the very popular. I
remember an occasion in Boston when the
andante of Beethoven's Second Symphony
was on their programme. By accident the
parts for the players were not forthcoming;
but they played it nevertheless from memory.
It was not a great feat, perhaps, but it is
worthy of mention, to show that they were in
the routine of playing some good music ; evi-
dently that andante was at their fingers' ends.

It is not easy to realize how much our musi-
cal entertainments have changed for the better,
except by a glance backward at those of the
preceding age. Just about forty years ago a
scene was enacted by an assemblage of the
best musicians of the day in the city of New
York which would be scarcely credible had it
not been seen and heard and described to
me by a friend not given to romancing on
serious subjects.

Jullien with his band was performing in the
Crystal Palace, built, in what was then "up-
town," in imitation of the London Palace of
the Great Exposition. The New York build-
ing was not so large as that, but large enough
for the time and place. Phineas T. Barnum
was the directing spirit, and he of course ap-
pealed to the great popular heart every time.



Recollections of an Old Musician 73

His theory — ^possibly a true one at that time,
and measurably born out by some facts — ^was
that the aforesaid heart was encased in a
bumpkin's body, with a childlike intelligence
and a desire for entertainments of the circus
order. The more fakes and side-shows the
merrier. The majority of the entertainments
were intended to meet that demand and that
only. Hence the scene in the Palace.

JuUien was performing a piece entitled JVzg-Ai
— I cannot now give the composer's name. At
the beginning the audience was told, either
orally or by printed notice, that there might
be some startling effects, but no one need be
afraid, — all would end well, etc.

It is not a difficult task to compose an effect-
ive piece to be called Night with the assist-
ance of a grand orchestra as the main factor,
and given an opening of quiet, monotonous
tones, like Fdlicien David's opening to his
Desert^ a lullaby, a lover's serenade, and lots
of such odds and ends, which any good man
with a lively imagination can invent. At the
Crystal Palace music of this sort was purring
along and lulling people into reposeful security
— all quiet as night should ever be — ^when sud-
denly the clang of real fire-bells was heard ;
people jumped from their seats ; there was a



74 Recollections of an Old Musician

big commotion ; fire and flames were seen ap-
parently bursting from the roof of the Palace ;
ushers were rushing about telling people to
sit down, for it was a part of the performance ;
the big doors were swung open, and in rushed
two or three fire companies with their "ma-
chines," hose, and great fire-ladders. These
ladders were raised to the roof, and the fire-
men, in their traditional red flannel shirts and
helmets, and carrying speaking-trumpets,
climbed the ladders. Real water was squirted,
glass was broken, cries, orders, every sort of
noise concomitant of a fire was heard, — -plus
the big orchestra, which was making a fearful
din, sawing and blowing fortissimo through
every possible diminished seventh that could
be raked up out of the musical scale.

It lasted long enough to make the most tre-
mendously red-peppered musical sensation that
mortal ears ever heard.

It must be understood that all the previously
distributed notices were not sufficient to pre-
vent some timid souls from being alarmed.
The noise and confusion created almost a panic.
Some were fainting, others bursting with
laughter, the cooler ones enthusiastically ad-
miring the well-arranged piece. Finally, the
fire was put out, the firemen with their ma-



Recollections of an Old Musician 75

chines retired, and the orchestra artistically
prepared the audience for a song of praise and
thanksgiving which came in the shape of Old
Hundredy played and sung, and joined in by
the well-pleased audience. It was a ne plus
ultra of realistic music.

JuUien, shortly after his work in the New
York Crystal Palace, returned to England.
His visit to America had not been financially
successful, — indeed it seemed to have been his
Waterloo. He did not perform much more ;
he had " played out his many parts." His old
admirers deserted him. Financial distress and
sickness overtook him, and he came to a sud-
den and sad ending in an insane asylum.



CHAPTER IX

IT has always been an open question whether
Boston made the Handel and Haydn So-
ciety or the Handel and Haydn Society made
Boston.

The Society has been almost an integral
part of the city since 1815, the year of its
formation. If we consider the total result, —
the beneficial and wide-spread influence of the
Society on the great mass of New England
people, — then we can comprehend how much
honor it has unvaryingly reflected on Boston.

I wish to disclaim any pretension to writing
an accurate history of any Boston musical so-
ciety before I was a working member of any
of them. I shall only try to tell something of
what they did, and how they did it, in my time.

When I was engaged to play clarinet in the
Handel and Haydn Society, it was a very
cosy domestic institution. I cannot say
whether there was or was not a regular mu-
sic conductor that first season. I remember
distinctly that good old "father" Jonas Chick-

76



Recollections of an Old Musician 77

ering did often beat time while they had their
"sing." These meetings were always hefd
(according to their By-Laws), and are still,
on Sunday evenings, from the first Sunday in
October to the last Sunday in May.

Like most societies of the period, the Han-
del and Haydn was composed of both instru-
mental and vocal members. Amateur players
comprised about two thirds, and professionals
one third, of the orchestra The profession-
als were engaged to ** help out." We were
paid the modest sum of two dollars for each
evening, whether concert or rehearsal, every
Sunday through the season. It was an invalu-
able apprenticeship. I believe that musicians
of the present day, who do not have the slow
building-up through the regular performance
of oratorios, lose a schooling no other music
can give. Old Bostonians were great gainers
by being permeated with the Messiah, the
Israel in Egypt, Samson, Jephtha, Solomon,
Saul, Judas Maccahceus, Acis and Galatea, and
Esther, all by Handel ; the Creation, the Sea-
sons, and masses, by Haydn ; the Elijah, St.
Paul, and the Hymn of Praise, by Mendels-
sohn ; and the Requiem and other masses, by
Mozart.

Nor did the Society stop with the above



78 Recollections of an Old Musician

w,orks. They were right catholic in their
tastes. They gave operas founded on sacred
histories, such as Moses in Egypt^ by Rossini ;
the Martyrs^ by Donizetti, and Nabucco, by
Verdi. The Moses had a popular run for several
seasons. Rossini was then in vogue. Indeed
the great arias with their quite tremendous
instrumental solo introductions, and the effect-
ive concerted pieces and finales of dramatic
energy, would be startling even at the present
day.

Time brought changes. The amateur play-
ers dropped off. The ** Profs " were released
from Sunday attendance. The Society began
to engage orchestras of professional players for
a definite number of concerts only.

Various conductors have contributed their
share towards the musical development of the
Society.

Mr. Charles Horn, the English song-writer,
was, I believe, imported in order to bring out
the oratorio of Elijah. I think he was followed
by John L. Hatton. This gentleman was a
very fine musician and composer, an excellent
pianist, and, ntirahle dictUy an exceptionally
fine, unctuous singer of comic songs.

Think of it, classicists of the present day, —
the director of the Handel and Haydn Society



Recollections of an Old Musician 79

a famous singer of comic songs ! I can assure
my readers, though, that when Mr. Hatton
sang The Little Fat Man^ Bluebeard^ or The
Jolly Young Oysterman (words by Oliver
Wendell Holmes, music by Hatton), he satis^
fied very largely the aesthetic tastes of the day.
It is also to be remembered that there are
comic songs and comic songs. Those Mr.
Hatton sang were distinctly musical, with piano
accompaniments like those by Franz or Grieg.

Mr. Hatton's versatility was great I re-
member an instance of it. One Saturday night
in a Musical Fund concert, he played Men-
delssohn's D-Minor Piano Concerto^ — ^that be-
ing its first performance in Boston. Later, in
the same concert, he sang some comic songs.
The next evening, in the same hall, in a Han-
del and Haydn concert, he conducted a per^
f ormance of the Elijah. The singer of the title
rdle was suddenly indisposed and unable to sing.
Mr. Hatton, through the entire performance,
sang the part of " Elijah," — turning around to
face the audience when singing, yet continu-
ing to conduct the forces. He sang the music
in artistic style and with a good, full voice.

Mr. Hatton stayed in Boston about two sea-
sons, and was a splendid worker in the musical
life of the city.



8o Recollections of an Old Musician

There was a Mr. Davidson, who conducted
for part of a season only. He was followed
by Mr. Charles C. Perkins, who filled the office
of conductor and president of the society for
several years. Mr. Perkins was a devoted
patron of music, and indeed of all the fine arts.
He was of the true noblesse^ almost un-Ameri-
can in his patrician-like devotion to and work-
ing for the advancement of art A graduate
of Harvard, he had spent some years in Europe
studying music and painting. Returning to
Boston, he mingled actively in the musical life
of the city, and for years he had a musical even-
ing at his house each week. Chamber music
by the Mendelssohn Quintette Club and our
best local or visiting pianists did good service
then and there by familiarizing devotees of
music with excerpts of the best kind. At Mr.
Perkins's house was heard for the first time
Schumann's Piano Qnintette^ with Mr. William
Scharfenberg (recently deceased) at the piano.
I remember the occurrence well. We young
artists were so stirred up and excited by the
Quintette that when we ended its last note
we simply turned our parts back again to the
beginning and played the whole work once
more, can amore,

Mr. Perkins was a zealous worker for the



CARL ZERF1AHN.



Recollections of an Old Musician 8i

building of the Boston Music Hall ; and he
did himself and the city of Boston honor by
presenting to the Hall the splendid bronze
statue of Beethoven, by Crawford, the sculptor.
Later on he was an equally ardent worker for
the building and founding of the Art Museum ;
and for years he devoted much time to teach-
ing and lecturing on art subjects in the Normal
School. He was a fairly good pianist, and had
composed a number of pieces of chamber music,
— ^trios, quartettes, and a septette for piano and
strings. Wherever his money, labor, or influ-
ence could reach, they were actively employed
for the advancement of art. And since his
tragic death, no one has stepped forward to
quite take his place.

The next conductor and pilot of the society
was Mr. Carl Zerrahn, who was for many years
at the helm. Advanced age alone induced
him, at the beginning of the season of 1895,
to retire from his responsible position.

Taking Mr. Zerrahn in all points, he was
and is still a rare man. He has filled a long
life with honor to himself and satisfaction to
those who came in contact with him. First
showing good ability as the director of the
Orchestral Union, he afterward became the con-
ductor of the Harvard Symphony Concerts, the

6



82 Recollections of an Old Musician

Handel and Haydn Society, and the Worcester
Festivals. He was always much in demand in
New England, and in fact from Maine to Cali-
fornia. He possessed one trait of character
which manifested itself during the laborious
working of a music festival.

Let us suppose that the festival began at 9
A.M. on Monday, and continued with rehearsals
or performances till Saturday night : I can tes-
tify, from personal experience while assisting in
the festivals, that Mr. Zerrahn was always as
fresh, as full of interest, and as energetic at the
last hour as he was at the first. In that par-
ticular trait, which every musician knows to be
an important one, he was a matchless man.

He was also very firm and earnest in action,
amiable in temper, and considerate of the short-
comings of the many inexperienced performers
who came under his baton. He was never
known to show up the weakness of an artist to
the public ; neither the highest nor the hum-
blest assistant ever received a discourteous
word from him. He was and is still a rare man
indeed ; and unquestionably is enthroned in
the hearts of very large numbers of those who
cam*e under his direction.

Another man worthy of being singled out is
Dr. J. P. Upham, for many years president of



Recollections of an Old Musician 83

the Handel and Haydn Society, who as an
executive officer and organizer was quite Na-
poleonic. It was mainly through his labors
that sufficient interest was aroused to purchase
the great organ for the Music Hall, His
master work in Boston, however, was in creat-
ing a strong popular belief in the benefits aris-
ing from the teaching of music in the public
schools, and in the further wisdom of holding
a yearly exhibition, in the shape of a School
Music Festival, to show the total results
thereof.

I cannot end my friendly record of the Handel
and Haydn Society without mentioning the
untiring service of the two ** war secretaries,"
Loring B. Barnes and J. Parker Brown. The
latter has also been for many years the presi-
dent of the society. Every man of experience
in the management of societies knows that
there are times when much zeal and tact, per-
sonal influence, and unceasing vigilance, alone
** keep the machine running." Those are the
qualities which win victory from threatening
defeat. Mr. Barnes and Mr. Brown have
merited great praise for the forethought and
foresight displayed while engaging the array
of artists for the many Handel and Haydn
Festivals; they were doubtless inspired by



84 Recollections of an Old Musician

Santa Cecilia, the sweet patroness of music, to
make the sacrifices on her altars so willingly
performed by all her devotees.

Mr. B. J. Lang, the almost lifelong organist
and steadfast helper of the Handel and Haydn
Society, and for a time the successor of Carl
Zerrahn as conductor, has shown in countless
ways such consummate skill, tact, and artistic
judgment that he has won the admiration of
all musicians. He is a man of marked charac-
ter, a typical American, ambitious and indus-
trious. I have known him since his boyhood,
when he lived with his parents in their quiet
home in Salem, Mass. I used to meet him fre-
quently on the train for Boston, where he went
to take piano or organ lessons, and I noticed
that he prepared his harmony lessons while en
route. In this way the youth grew up, system-
atically laying the foundation for his future
usefulness. Now at maturity he has the repu-
tation of being a distinguished pianist, organ-
ist, teacher, and general director. A few
sentences will suffice to outline the life of the
busy artist since he made his dibut at fifteen
years of age in one of the Mendelssohn Quin-
tette Club's concerts.

Mr. Lang has always been a hard student,
and is known by his friends to be a progres-



Recollections of an Old Musician 85

sive man, with many new and bright ideas.
While still very young he organized, in 1862,
a couple of concerts, in which he appeared as
the conductor of a large orchestra, chorus,
and soloists, in two performances of the Wal-
purgis Nacht. He thus entered upon a broad,
artistic life, and has continued in the same
path. He has been the conductor of the
Apollo Club since its formation in 1871, and
also of the St. Cecilia Club. The first concert
of the latter was given November 19, 1874,
orchestra assisting. The programme con-
sisted of several part-songs and the Walpurgis
Nacht, by Mendelssohn. One of the most
notable accomplishments of Mr. Lang was
the bringing out of the Passion-Play of Parsifal
by Richard Wagner. At great expense he
brought from New York the entire Seidl Or-
chestra, which had recently played the work
in that city. It was a bold and brilliant
stroke. No other performance of the great
composition has been vouchsafed Boston.

It is a great pleasure to be able to give a
slight sketch of his daughter, Margaret Ruth-
ven Lang. She was born in 1867, and in-
herits the musical ability of her parents. Her
mother is well known as an amateur singer of
great refinement. Miss Lang, therefore, has



86 Recollections of an Old Musician

had a musical education which has been care-
fully directed in every detail. She has attained
a position which places her among the four
foremost female composers of the world, the
other three being Chaminade and Holmes of
Paris, and Mrs. Beach of Boston.

Miss Lang began writing music when about
twelve years old. Among her first composi-
tions were a quintette of one movement for
strings and piano, and several songs. She
began the study of the pianoforte under one
of her father's pupils, and later continued it
under his direction. Some time after this
she studied the violin with Louis Schmidt in
Boston, and continued it under Drechsler
and Abel, in Munich, during the winters of
1886-1887. While in Munich she also studied
composition with Victor Gluth.

On returning to Boston in 1887, she took
up the study of orchestration with G. W.
Chadwick, since which time she has written a
large number of compositions, many of which
have had great success.

W^r Dramatic Overture^ op. 12, was per-
formed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
under Nikisch, on April 8, 1893 I 1^^^ overture
Wtttckzs, op. 10, was performed in Chicago
under Theodore Thomas, at two concerts, in



Recollections of an Old Musician 87

July and August, 1893 ; and at a third con-
cert under Bendix. Both of these composi-
tions are in manuscript ; also a third overture,
op. 23, Totila. Of other works for orchestra,
composed later, are three arias : one for alto,
Sappho^ s Prayer to Aphrodite^ performed in
New York in 1896 ; one for soprano, Armida,
performed at the Boston Symphony Concert,
January 13, 1896 ; and one for baritone, Phoebus.



CHAPTER X

AMONG the many artists with whom I
have come in contact, none had a per-
sonality which made a greater impression on me
than Ole Bull. His magnificent figure, that
head of long hair and the way he had of throw-
ing it back to keep it out of his eyes when
performing, made a picture which memory
easily retains. His career as a virtuoso in
America and Europe is too well known to
require much mention of it here.

The question has often been put to me :
What kind of an artist was Ole Bull ? It was
a question difficult to answer, and I tried to
follow the example of wise men, and diplomat-
ically evade giving a musical opinion. I shall
use the same tactics now. There are a few
points, though, that I have never seen brought
out in any criticism.

The apothegm of President Lincoln, ** You
can't fool all the people all the time," comes
into play in this case. There were many
reasons for Ole Bull's great popularity. He

88



Recollections of an Old Musician 89

had some remarkable points in technique ; for
instance, his marvelous staccato; also his trick
of playing a four-part harmony on an almost
flat bridge. His rendition of The Mother's
Prayer was a finished performance, while that
of The Arkansas Traveller was simply a stroke
of genius in its way.

A poor way, the musician will say. Of
course it was, but it was a way by which he
gained great popularity. I heard him play The
Arkansas Traveller once ; I shall never forget
it. The piece opened with a short introduc-
tion, — a quiet, plaintive air, — ^at the conclusion
of which he gently lifted up his right foot,
much in the old-grandfather manner of beat-
ing time; then he suddenly brought down
that foot with tremendous force on the un-
carpeted stage and dashed off into the most
reckless, mad, and intoxicated jig any dancer
ever heard to start the fever of dancing within
him. It was startling.

Our Quintette Club was engaged to play
with Ole Bull for a week. He was requested to
play first violin in one of Mozart's quintettes, —
a first movement only. We had to stand up
while playing it. To sit down and play was an
impossibility for the heroic Ole. At the time
of the first Jubilee in Boston, he and Carl Rosa



90 Recollections of an Old Musician

played at the first desk of violins. We all
thought it noble of him to take part.

Ole Bull had all the fine traits of the success-
ful player. After each of his performances there
was usually great applause. When he came
out on the stage to acknowledge the compli-
ment, his manner was so uncommonly graceful,
so stately-courteous, as he bowed right and
left, that the audience was, if possible, more
completely captured than when he was playing
to them.

Ole Bull visited the United States for the
first time in 1843. He returned to Europe,
but revisited America many times. He had
great happiness in the last part of his life,
resulting from his marriage with an American
woman of unusual distinction of character.
He died in the home he had created for his
family on a picturesque island in one of Nor-
way's wonderful fjords.

Boston had another remarkable man to
help in the building up of a refined taste for
music, — Julius Eichberg.

Mr. Eichberg came to this country in 1847,
and was in New York for two years. In 1849
he removed to Boston, and was appointed
director of music in the Boston Museum.
While in that position he composed and pro-



Recollections of an Old Musician 91

duced several operettas of charming quality,
notably the Doctor of Alcantara^ though as a
composer he was academic. In that vein he
wrote a good quintette for strings, which was
played by our Club ; also a concerto for four
violins, which was performed at a benefit
concert for the Musical Union.

In 1867 he established the Boston Conser-
vatory of Music, which was chiefly a violin
school of great value, and which is still at
work, under the direction of Mr. Herbert P.
Chelius. Mr. Eichberg was a fine violinist and
a maa of culture. He was thoroughly ap-
preciated in our community, and was for many
years the general supervisor and director of
music for all the high schools of Boston, in
which capacity he did good work for the people
of the " Modem Athens,"



CHAPTER XI

THE Mendelssohn Quintette Club may be
said to be like Topsy, — " not born but
just growed."

The members of the Club were :

August Fries, ist violin; Francis Riha, 2d
violin ; Edward Lehman, viola and flute ;
Thomas Ryan, viola and clarinet ; Wulf
Fries, violoncello.

Its real career began with its first public
concert in Boston, December, 1849.

This was the programme :

1. Quintette in A, op. 18 . . . Mendelssohn.

Four Movements.

2. La Melancolie, solo for violin . . Prume,

Mr. Francis Riha.

3. Trio for Flute, Violin, and Violoncello, on

themes from the opera of " Zampa," by Harold.

Kalliwoda.
Messrs. Lehman, August and Wulf Fries.

4. Fifth Air Vari6 for Clarinet. . . F, Berr.

Mr. Thomas Ryan.

5. Quintette in E flat, op. 4 . . Beethoven,

Four Movements.
92



Recollections of an Old Musician 93

That programme was certainly a notable
one — fit for to-day's use. We had set our
standard high ; and have never lowered it
during our almost fifty years of service.

The custom of the period, which prohibited
theatrical performances Saturdays, gave the
musicians entire freedom on those days. Mr.
August Fries and his brother Wulf, members
of the National Theatre Orchestra, were de-
voted quartette players, and they always util-
ized their precious freedom on Saturdays by
getting their confreres together to play quar-
tettes with them. In this way the foundation
was laid for the formation of the Quintette
Club. The Fries brothers enlisted the interest
of Messrs. Gierlow, Greuner, and Lehman.
These five began to play for their own enjoy-
ment, and after a while they played at a few
concerts outside of Boston before I was a
member.

In 1849, Mr. August Fries gave violin les-
sons to Mr. John Bigelow, of the well-known
firm, Bigelow Brothers & Kennard, jewellers.
By invitation of Mr. Bigelow these five artists
spent many of their Saturday evenings at his
house. Having the pleasure of Mr. Bigelow's
acquaintance, I also was at his house on most
of these occasions and to use the common ex-



94 Recollections of an Old Musician

pression, it made me " just crazy " to play with
them.

One day I said in jest to August Fries," You '11
do nothing till I am a member of the Men-
delssohn Quintette Club." Shortly after, one
of the gentlemen, Mr. Greuner, removed to
Lowell, and I was invited to take his place.
Then Mr. Gierlow resigned, and Francis Riha,
the former leader of the Steyermark Orchestra,
took his place and thus became the second
violin. We played very much together and
got into fine trim.

Mr. Bigelow, who was our fatherly friend,
and remained such all through life, suggested
that we should prepare to give concerts, and
make that a part of our life-work. The ques-
tion of a name naturally came up. Mendelssohn
was on the top of the musical wave at that
time, and, as we had practised his quintette.
Opus 1 8, till we could venture to play it in
public, it was determined to call our party,
The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston.
We gave our first concert by invitation, in
Jonas Chickering's piano rooms, then on
Washington Street^ nearly opposite the Adams
House.

Framed under glass in my home, I have one
of the little modest notes of invitation to that



Recollections of an Old Musician 95

concert, sent to about two hundred people;
also the little yellow tissue-paper programme,
three inches by five, printed for the memorable
occasion.

We jumped into favor at once, gave a set
of four subscription concerts, and afterward a
supplementary set in old Cochituate Hall
(Phillips Place), where now is Houghton &
Button's store.

Then for us young men began a kind of
belle's life. We were in demand ever5^where, —
not only for single concerts, but for sets of
four or more, — in places like Salem, Lowell,
Lawrence, Haverhill, Taunton, New Bedford,
Providence, and Worcester. Concerts, in sets,
were usually held once a fortnight.

There were no dramatic or operatic com-
panies to visit such places ; but the lyceum
system was well established everywhere. Each
town and city had its organized sets of lectures.
In Boston there were two library associations
that were rivals ; and the astutest generalship
was displayed in capturing the great lecture
guns of the day, — Wendell Phillips, Geo. W.
Curtis, Mr. Whipple, Mr. Agassiz, and others.
It is recorded that the president of one of these
societies, calling on Mr. Agassiz at a period
when he was working enthusiastically on one



96 Recollections of an Old Musician

of his books, laid down before Mr. Agassiz a
blank check, duly signed, that the latter
could fill out to any amount for a lectureJ Mr.
Agassiz simply said that his time was "too
precious," he could " not afford to work for
money." Those were the halcyon days of the
lecture field.

In order to appreciate the environment of
the Quintette Club during our early years, we
have but to remember that Boston, within a
radius of one hundred miles, had a very large
number of towns and cities of active working
communities. With the exception of a few
places like Providence, Worcester, and Port-
land, these towns had no theatres ; their only
entertainments were lectures or concerts, and
these were mostly given in churches ; so we had
all New England to ourselves (as far as sup-
plying music was concerned) for many years.

Parlor concerts were in vogue. In Cam-
bridge, for instance, we had for fifteen con-
secutive seasons a set of eight parlor concerts,
given in the houses of the professors or other
friends of music. The programmes were of
good music only. We also had for years sets
of parlor concerts in places like Milton and
New Bedford.

In this same period the "Yankee singing-



Recollections of an Old Musician 97

school" and the so-called "musical conventions"
flourished. The latter were held for years in
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Mas-
sachusetts. The singers of these different
States had organized governing boards that
appointed the time of meeting and engaged
the music director and assisting artists. The
chorus of singers chiefly studied so-called " sa-
cred music," and usually wound up their week's
labor with an oratorio performance.

The members of the "musical conventions"
usually began their rehearsals on Monday at
nine a.m., and continued till noon. The after-
noon session was from two to four, and
was largely given up to solo singing or play-
ing by our Club. It also afforded an oppor-
tunity for the amateurs of the State to display
their ability in public. Many of the young
singers afterward became noted in the mu-
sical world Among them was Annie Louise
Cary, who acquired a European operatic repu-
tation that placed her in the front rank among
great singers. From this kind of training,
too, came Mrs. H. M. Smith, Mrs. Mozart,
Jenny Kempton, Myron Whitney, James
Whitney (tenor), and a host of others too
numerous to mention.

The evenings of the conventions were gen-
7



98 Recollections of an Old Musician

erally devoted to mixed music, in which the
chorus took part Nearly every oratorio
worthy of mention — entire or in part — ^was
thus familiarized to people who lived in the
remotest parts of New England.

This little history will account for the possi-
bility of assembling, on occasions like the Gil-
more Peace Jubilees, a chorus numbering five
to ten thousand singers who were at home in
oratorio music. Outside of New England no
similar condition existed.

The singing-school and the musical conven-
tions no longer command the same popular
interest, for which various reasons can be ad-
duced. The main one is the fact that entertain-
ments and professional entertainers of all kinds
have multiplied. The people prefer seeing the
game of baseball played by experts to playing
the game themselves. The same thing is true
of the people's enjoyment of music.

Whatever be the cause, we know that in
towns and small cities, the old music societies
have generally ceased to exist. The singing-
school teachers who began in New England
are now scattered over the West They have
carried with them their old home ways ; for in-
stance, Mr. Amos Whiting, formerly of Worces-
ter, Mass., who removed to Pittsburg, Pa.,



Recollections of an Old Musician 99

and at once began work on the old singing-
school and convention plan. In a few years
he roused enough interest in that community
to project and carry through a magnificent
festival, in which Madame Nilsson and her
troupe of singers took part in an oratorio.
Mrs. Whiting has been doing the same thing
in Toledo, Ohio. I could mention other
teachers, but the instances given are fair types
of the fraternity.

While on the subject of musical conven-
tions and New England singers, I wish to in-
terject a remark, — not as a compliment on the
one' hand, nor as a defamation on the other, —
namely : in the conventions it was often the
case that Rossini's Stabat Mater was per-
formed, and I can aver that the most perfect
singing of the two quartettes (concerted) in
that work was often done by Mrs. H. M.
Smith, soprano ; Miss Annie Louise Gary,
alto : Mr. James Whitney, tenor ; Mr. Myron
Whitney, bass. The intonation of those sing-
ers was as positively perfect as any musician
could desire to hear.

In contradistinction, I think no musician can
speak favorably of the performance of the
same works by any combination of so-called
great or distinguished artists that he has since



loo Recollections of an Old Musician

heard in the United States. The reasons are
not far to seek. The so-called "great " people
generally are only good in solo work, where
they can ** shine I " They do not, they will
not, sacrifice their individual art to ensure a
good ensemble. They never, for the sake of
the true rendition of these quartettes, so chro-
matically difficult, are willing to rehearse them
till they are fairly perfect. They, the artists,
must be considered before the music.

Our home-bred singers were not made on
that pattern — ^they strove for perfection, and
very nearly reached it At least that is my
opinion, and I here put it on record. " Let
justice be done though the heavens fall."



ANNIE LOUISE C



CHAPTER XII

AMONG the singers who about twenty
years ago gained American and Euro-
pean celebrity, easily stands pre-eminent Annie
Louise Gary, now Mme. Raymond. As a con-
tralto singer, in concert, oratorio, or opera, she
won all hearts with her superb voice and ex-
pressive vocalization. A native of the State of
Maine, — ^born and reared near Portland, — she
h^ in many ways shown a filial love for her
State and endeared herself, one may say for-
ever, to its people.

When she was at the height of her profes-
sional glory, she fitted up at her own expense
a ** Gary Room " in the Maine General Hos-
pital, and that room is to be kept up at her ex-
pense to the end of her days. That is an act
I deem worthy to be placed on record, and I
hope it may often be imitated. Yet it is but
one of the many good acts of the brave Amer-
ican girl.

To return to the history of the Mendelssohn

lOI



I02 Recollections of an Old Musician

Club, we were by no means paddling our own
little Quintette ** canoe " only, but were active
members of the different orchestras of the
Musical Fund, the Orchestral Union, the
Harvard Association, and the Boston Sym-
phony, each in turn as they came into action.

The Orchestral Union was made up from
our best musicians, — about forty in number, —
Carl Zerrahn being the director. The con-
certs were held in Music Hall on Wednesday
afternoons only. The entrance fee was mod-
erate. Programmes were of mixed music :
an overture, symphony, waltz, characteristic
pieces, and opera selections. The great organ
in Music Hall was built about the time the
Union began their concerts. Our best organ-
ists were invited in turn to play organ solos at
each concert The Union existed about ten
years, then ended its life for lack of support.

The friends of symphonic music, hungering
for the best in quality, organized in 1865 the
Harvard Musical Association. Mr. Carl Zer-
rahn was engaged as conductor, and, with an
efficient orchestra, gave programmes of sym-
phonic music. In the first three years, eight
concerts were given each season ; then for ten
seasons, ten concerts. The number was re-
duced to eight for the next three seasons, and



Recollections of an Old Musician 103

in the last season but five were given ; making
in all seventeen seasons. The programmes
were worthy models for any society which
means to be educative ; to interest the best-
music lovers, and yet to remember the large
army of those who desire the simplest sort of
music. Finally, in spite of the wisdom exer-
cised by the directors, interest in the concerts
waned and they ended.

In 1880 the worthy benefactor, Mr. Henry
L. Higginson, founded the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. That orchestra has made its own
record, which is simply one of increasing per-
fection. It is now perhaps the model orchestra
of the world ; and every good citizen of Boston
has reason to be proud of the honors it wins
for its founder and the city of its birth.

Up to the year 1863, when the Quintette
Club first travelled in the West, we gave each
year eight subscription concerts in Boston.
The old friends and supporters remained
faithful to us, and were part of our glory.
Their faces and names rise before me as I
write.

First, there is our good old father, John
Bigelow, who with his family nearly always sat
in the front seats. Mr. Bigelow was an in-
spiration. He had a pair of hands of generous



I04 Recollections of an Old Musician

proportions, and when he applauded the house
went with him. When he was not present, it
was comparatively a dull night One may
talk of horses sniffing the smoke of battle, but
it is a faint figure of speech compared to the
sniffing of artists for applause. It is whip and
spur to them.

In these classic soirees of ours, we have
played every composition for strings worth
playing ; and have given also special sets of
concerts where only the most modem works,
like the Brahms sextettes, Bruch, Goldmark,
and Rubinstein, were played We also gave
for many seasons the so-called popular Satur-
day night concerts; for which we secured
other artists to play septettes, octettes, and
nonettes of mixed wind and string instruments.
Nearly every pianist of distinction played
repeatedly with us; among them were Mr.
William Scharfenberg, Otto Dresel, Ernst
Perabo, J. C. D. Parker, B. J. Lang, Hugo
Leonard, Gustav Satter, J. Trenkle, John L.
Hatton, and Miss Fay (now Mrs. Sherwood).

Singers also helped us in large numbers.
One was Mile. Caroline Lehman, sister of
our flute player, who came from Copenhagen
and sang with us two seasons. Other vocal
assistants were Mrs. J. H. Long, Mrs. Went-



Recollections of an Old Musician 105

worth, Mrs. Harwood, Miss Addie S. Ryan,
Mrs. H. M. Smith, Adelaide Phillips, and
Annie Louise Cary — all good singers. I think
it can be safely said that the Mendelssohn
Quintette Club has done its share in cultivating
a taste for music, especially chamber music.

It is next in order to tell my readers some-
thing of the musical and personal qualities of
the members of the Mendelssohn Quintette
Club.

Naturally I begin with August Fries. He
was a good, genuine violinist, especially in
quartette. He played with deep sentiment, was
painstaking, and no rehearsals were too long for
him. He was the broadest man, had the oldest
head, of the organization, and was altogether a
good leader. In his social character he was
full of geniality, could be the life and spirit of
every party, and he thus endeared himself to a
very large number of personal friends. He
had the old-world habit (a charming one) of
studying beforehand how a social evening could
be most pleasantly spent It was always clear
to his friends that he had interested himself to
plan for their pleasure. That fact was the key
to his character, — ^he accustomed himself to
think of others. Whether it was a picnic,
sail, dance, or musical evening, he was the



io6 Recollections of an Old Musician

leader in it alL He was very firm in purpose
and set in his way ; he could not accommodate
himself to some things ; but sterling integrity
was the main point in his make-up. He was
an excellent man for younger people to start
with.

August Fries stayed with us ten years. He
then returned to Bergen, in Norway, where he
has lived ever since, with the exception of a
visit to Boston about twenty years ago, when
for one season he filled the post of concert-
master with the Harvard Association.

Mr. Wulf Fries, brother to August, was and
is a good 'cellist. He is so well known through-
out the country that eulogistic words from me
are unnecessary. It is not easy to find a 'cellist
for all general playing who produces a tone
comparable to that of Fries ; and we have had
in the Club some of the best 'cellists of this
country, — namely : Fries for twenty-two years ;
the splendid 'cellist, Rudolph Hennig, of
Philadelphia, for eight years; Giese, a great
player, for four or five years; and Hekking
for one year. For certain work and tone.
Fries was up to the level of them all. His
personal friends can be counted in legions.

Mr. Francis Riha, our second violin, was a
brilliant player in every way, with considerable



Recollections of an Old Musician 107

ability as a composer. He was the handsome
man of the party, — much petted but not spoiled.
He stayed with us five years, and then went
south for a milder climate, but returned to New
York when the war began.

Edward Lehman, a good flute and viola
player, stayed with us four years, and then re-
turned to Copenhagen, where he was the solo
flute with Lumbye for years.



CHAPTER XIII

NOW is the time to ask, in the words of the
old song, " Where are the friends of my
youth ? " They are scattered like the leaves of
past autumns ; but the memory of many of
them remains as a rich inheritance.

One of the noblest of the band was "old
Jonas Chickering." In fancy I can see him
now in his workshop in the big factory on
Washington Street. He was a medium-sized
man with a most kindly face. When at work
he wore a white linen apron, and naturally
was " in his shirt-sleeves." His special task
was to cover all the hammers for his best piano-
fortes with buckskin, — an important thing in
those days, before the invention of the white
felt now used ; which comes, so to speak,
ready-made to glue on to the hammers from
bass to soprano. Mr. Chickering could be
generally found with a sharp knife in hand pre-
paring the hammers. If customers called, ladies
or gentlemen, he simply put down his knife
and waited on them ; that was the old style.

io8



Recollections of an Old Musician 109

He had taken a fatherly interest in me, and
I frequently found myself in his den, telling
him my dreams and aspirations ; and I know
other young musicians who were often with
him. He liked their chatter, and exchanged
good counsel for it It was a way he had.
From the time that our Quintette Club gave
its first concert in his rooms, he was a great
help and generous subscriber.

One day I said to him, " Mr. Chickering,
you are everlastingly doing much for us, — can-
not we do something for you ? For instance,
it would be a great pleasure if we could give
you a musical evening at your house." He
smiled, thanked me, and said perhaps he would
have one. Months after, he arranged for the
evening and we greatly enjoyed it. Some little
time passed by. I went into his den one day,
and had my usual chat with him. When I
was about to leave he said, " By the way,
Mr. Ryan, Mr. Childs, the bookkeeper, wishes
to see you." I saw Mr. Childs, and he handed
me a check for fifty dollars. To cut my
story short, there was no use in protesting ;
Mr. Chickering insisted on my taking the
money. That was the style of the " upright,"
** square," " grand " old man.

I am sure that this incident is but a sample



I lo Recollections of an Old Musician

of the way in which he helped many young
musicians; and it is an open secret that the
father's ways were inherited by his noble sons,
of whom George only is living.

When I speak of Mr. Jonas Chickering, the
head of the great house, working and waiting
on ladies in his shirt-sleeves, all people of my
age will understand it without mental ques-
tion or comment It will not be so well un-
derstood by people of the present day, who,
almost to the verge of the absurd, feel that
they must not be visible except in full dress ;
to be seen working with an apron on would be
to voluntarily place themselves in a humbler
(to use soft words) stratum of society.

But let me tell you, boys, what was done
once by the man who wore the white linen
apron. One sad night, his great factory on
Washington Street was burned down. At
daylight on the following morning a contract
was signed, purchasing a lot of land on Tre-
mont Street, and within twenty-four hours the
building of another great factory was started.
It has been, and is, a noble pile, — ^that work-
shop and factory of the Chickerings. I think
great credit is due to the man who had so
much foresight as to place his factory where
the city would grow to it Mr. Chickering



JOMAS CHICKERING.



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 1 1

was at that time the honored president of the
Mechanics Charitable Association. His his-
tory ought to encourage young men to wear
white linen aprons, if necessary, without fear
or shame.

The next good old friend who rises into
memory is Mr. Thomas Power, the clerk of
the police court for many years. He was a
curious mixture. In his official routine he
was a terror to evil-doers ; the presiding judge
was of little account in comparison. When
Mr. Power revealed the depravity of the
" he " or " she " under arrest, and the number
of times he or she had already been up be-
fore his Honor, and the long list of broken
promises to reform, there was a something in
the tone of his voice which distinctly implied,
not only grief, but utter absence of hope that
people of that kind would ever obtain a foot-
hold in the good part of the next world. It
then became a case of "Who enters here
leaves hope behind," for the culprit was shortly
sentenced to three or six months in jail.

Mr. Power, when thus officially employed,
was the most " solemncholy " man I ever met
But out of the court room he was a really
genial soul, the prince of good fellows, a fa-
mous story-teller, and positively a lovable man.



112 Recollections of an Old Musician

I recall one of his queer stories. He had
been authorized by his Honor, the judge, to
obtain a legal opinion on a certain point from
the Hon. Rufus Choate. Mr. Choate's chi-
rography was notoriously the worst ever seen,
and must have been like that made by the
traditional fly when it crawled out of the ink-
bottle into which it had accidentally fallen.
The opinion was obtained, and was in Mr.
Choate's characteristic handwriting. Poor
"Tom Power" looked at it, as he said, "up-
side down, right side up, and crosswise," but
it was not possible for him to read it in any
position. He then went over to Mr. Joseph
Bell, Mr. Choate's partner, and got him to write
it out. Armed with both writings, Mr. Power
went to court, and the case was called. Being
asked to read Mr. Choate's opinion, he took
up the (Bell) paper, read it glibly, and laid it
on his desk. His Honor asked to see the
document. Mr. Power obligingly handed Mr.
Choate's letter up to him. The judge looked
at it with wondering eyes, then at Mr. Power,
and finally, drawing a long breath, he asked
Mr. Power how it was possible for him to
read it

" Oh," said Mr. Power, " it happens to be
one of my accomplishments ! "



Recollections of an Old Musician 113

I have evidence of Mn Power's kindly dis-
position toward our Club in the form of a let-
ter in his handwriting. I have had it framed,
and I hold it in veneration.

** Boston, March 31. 1852.

" To the Members of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club :

" Gentlemen : — Holding in regard your position as
artists, we offer you a complimentary benefit. If you ac-
cept this offer, please name an evening when it will be
convenient to you.

" With sentiments of regard,

" Samuel A. Eliot,
Thomas Power,
Joseph Bell,
G. Gushing,
John Bigelow,
Henry Burditt,
Wm. B. Coffin,
Daniel Kimball, Jr.,
RuFUS Choate,
James Lodge,
Franklin Darracott,
Jonas Chickering."

To a Bostonian these are names which carry
weight and social distinction. Of these twelve
gentlemen not one is now alive.

The concert held in response to the above
request, was one of the occasions which will
ever remain a precious memory to the Club.
Especially charming is the souvenir of that

8



114 Recollections of an Old Musician

little girl who, advancing to the stage, placed
in the hands of each of our number a bouquet,
to which was attached a note of thanks and a
substantial token of regard in the shape of a
valuable gold ring and a large gold piece.

I also hold as a treasure one of our old sub-
scription lists, well filled with names. I read
the paper from top to bottom ; I know every
name, recall every person (about two hundred),
and know they were always to be counted on.
They were the friends of our youth, and now
are mostly with the autumn leaves.

** Many a time and oft,
When the house is still and the day is done
And the stars are out aloft,
I sit by the failing fire alone
And think of the years that are past and gone —
Many a time and oft." '

1 Amelia B. Edwards.



CHAPTER XIV

THE next old friend who looms up large is
Mr. Lowell Mason — a prominent figure
in the musical history of the United States. I
believe he was never absent from any of our
chamber concerts except when out of town.
I well remember how, one night in the old
Masonic Temple, when we had finished play-
ing Mendelssohn's Quartette in D, op. 44, Mr.
Mason rose from his seat in the second row,
came to the stage, laid the score of the quar-
tette at my feet, said, "It was beautifully
played ; please keep the score ; sorry I cannot
stay longer," and walked out in the stately,
self-possessed manner so perfectly in keeping
with his character.

At his home on Kingston Street I first met
his sons, William and Henry. William, as we
well know, is one of the foremost of American
musicians, a splendid pianist and composer for
the pianoforte. The youngest brother, Henry,
also had musical talent. He became the head
of the firm of Mason & Hamlin, the reed-organ

"5



ii6 Recollections of an Old Musician

builders, and latterly grand and upright piano
makers. There were two elder brothers, —
Lowell and Daniel ; not being of my age, I
knew them very little. They became well-
known business men in New York City.

Mr. Oliver Ditson is another well-known
figure in musical history. He has so re-
cently left his "niche," as one may properly
call it, in his store, that it is easy to think he
will return to it in a minute or so. Mr. Dit-
son never wanted more than standing-room
for his own working-place ; he always stood
when writing. He had all the old-style habits,
— ^was at his desk from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m. at all
seasons of the year, and never went so far
from Boston in the summer that he could not
come to his store daily for work.

Mr. Ditson was an actively benevolent man.
It is well known that he paid the expenses of
several music students, enabling them to study
in Europe. His more private benefactions
will never be known, but they are guessed at
by his friends. His methodical habits and
practical ways of economizing time were strong
traits in his character ; they would often " crop
out " in a funny manner, and a little story may
serve to illustrate these peculiarities.

Mr. Ditson had been out for a drive ; the



OLIVER DITSON.



Recollections of an Old Musician 117

horses had bolted, the vehicle was wrecked,
Mr. Ditson was thrown out, his left arm was
dislocated, and his whole body badly bruised.
He was picked up, and surgical assistance put
him measurably to rights ; but he was forced
to keep his room for perhaps four days, — a
long time to be absent from duty. Finally he
returned to his niche, with his arm in a sling,
and joyfully resumed work. I was in Vermont
at the time of the accident, but read all about
it in the newspapers. Returning to the city,
I hastened to learn Mr. Ditson's condition.
There he was in his old niche, large as life,
but a little damaged about the head, with
his arm in a sling. Full of personal sympathy,
I asked him to tell me all about the accident
Without interrupting his writing for more
than a second, he handed me a sheet of paper
on which he had written a full history of the
occurrence. It was entirely unnecessary to
ask a single question. I offered my condo-
lences, which he received with warm thanks,
and took my leave.

We must not overlook the fact that the
great music house of Ditson & Co. remains
with us as a truly magnificent monument to
the name of Oliver Ditson. It is one to which
every citizen of Boston can point with pride ;



ii8 Recollections of an Old Musician

and as a music-publishing house is one of the
largest in the world Mr. Ditson, like the
majority of America's great merchants, had his
"day of small beginnings." His native wis-
dom served him to very good purpose. It was
but natural that he looked with honest pride
on his son Charles controlling a great Ditson
house in New York City, and his youngest
son, Edward (when alive), doing the same
thing in Philadelphia.

I must not close this section of my recollec-
tions without recalling the well-known prince
of musical editors, — John Sebastian Dwight.
His kindly face and form, so well known to
Boston people, have so recently left us that
we simply think that the good man has just
gone away for a little while on a journey, and
that we shall certainly see him again in his
old haunts. We get so accustomed to see
certain people in certain places, year in and
year out, that we expect to see them there
always. We were so sure of seeing Mr.
Dwight in his invariable, carefully selected
seat in the left-hand side of the first balcony
of Music Hall, that now, missing him from
that seat, one naturally asks, " Where is John
S. to-night?" In this way beneficent nature



Recollections of an Old Musician 119

lets the recollections of our dearest friends
slowly fade out into the illimitable confines of
memory.

When Mr. D wight began to publish his
weekly paper, Dwights Journal of MustCy in
1852, it was pioneer work — uphill ploughing
and planting. John S. was ahead of his time
in his requirements from public performers.
He was to us young fellows, and indeed to all
artists, at once a spur and a whip. He would
never compromise with anything mean or com-
mon in music, and was peculiarly intolerant
of anything of the "monster jubilee" order.
From his standpoint he was right He had
the courage of hi^ convictions, and was willing
to risk going without salt for his porridge
rather than support in his paper any work
which did not possess the element of refined
merit

At the time of the Boston Jubilees, which
were big popular affairs, very wonderful in
their way, with an army of guarantors for
their financial success, the people, in Mr.
Dwight's opinion, were largely guarantors for
business reasons only. That was sufficient to
draw out his strongest opposition ; he could
not tolerate the Jubilees.

Among the guarantors was the noble, large-



I20 Recollections of an Old Musician

hearted Mr. Oliver S. Ditson. He naturally
wished for the influence of Mr. Dwight, who,
at that period, was employed by him as editor
of Dwight' s Journal of MusiCy published by
Mr. Ditson. Mr. Dwight's answer was, that he
had sold his journal, but not his personal or
musical opinions. He did not believe in mon-
ster jubilees: neither does any refined musi-
cian. He gave the Jubilees, both in advance
and afterward, the benefit of his (let us call it
mildly) disapproval. In fact, it was reported
that John S. Dwight had spent the week of
the first Jubilee at Nahant, where the noise of
the cannon fired off to accentuate the rhythm
of God Save the Queen (or America, whichever
you choose to call it), and the blows on the
one hundred anvils {sic!^ in the Anvil Chorus
from // Trovatore^ could not reach his ears and
torture him.

Mr. Dwight was a tender-hearted man, and
a thoroughly cultured alumnus of Harvard.
He had been one of the founders and workers
in the " Brook Farm " experiment, and was
certainly a good sample of that band of rare
souls. He has made many of the best English
translations of German songs. Examine, if
you will, Schubert's Trockene Blumen, and any
of the Heine songs set to music by Robert



Recollections of an Old Musician 121

Franz or Rubinstein. His poetic and musical
nature fitted him for the work. The service
he has done for music is well known by every
musician. With pen and voice and every
effective influence, he kept alive the Harvard
Symphony Concerts for quite a while against
the current of indifference which was setting
in.

As before said, Mr. Dwight in his musical
proclivities was a very conservative man. One
can honestly say he was more than that, — he
was prejudiced. He was a determined fighter
of the Richard Wagner cult, and, it is said,
found no merit in that composer's works. His
reverence for John Sebastian Bach, Beethoven,
Mozart, and other old worthies does him
honor ; but when a man can find no grandeur
in Wagner, no beauty in the Miserere of //
Trovatore^ I marvel.

Every thinking musician will agree with me
that J. S. Bach is the source, the fountain, the
inspiration, the evangel, so to speak, of all
which is great in music; that Beethoven is
still " the man with the all-conquering ideas,"
the king; and that Mozart with his lovely
melodies, his astounding contrapuntal skill, his
great, passionate, dramatic instincts, may per-
haps in those qualities never be excelled ; still,



122 Recollections of an Old Musician

thank God, the Giver of all good things, the
end is not yet ! And when there comes a man
like Wagner, who enlists a large army of earnest
disciples, it is almost incomprehensible that,
among the best musicians and writers, there
can be found many who are exactly of the J. S.
Dwight way of thinking.



CHAPTER XV

IN early days our Club held a few Mendelssohn
birthday festivals. The first one, February
3> 1 85 1, given in the Melodeon, was a great suc-
cess. We invited as guests all our concert
subscribers, decorated the hall tastefully, and
covered the face of the balcony with white cot-
ton cloth fringed with evergreen, on which, in
letters nearly a yard long, was the legend :
'* Born, Feb. 3, 1809. Died in 1847."
The stage was of course the focus of our
efforts. We had borrowed a plaster bust of
Mendelssohn, placed it on a pedestal festooned
with flowers, and put it at the front-centre of
the stage. Our five music-stands were also
decorated with flowers. Then we gathered to-
gether and played round this representative,
so to speak, patronymic saint He was our
idol ; we offered him our adoration and homage.
We were young, and certainly sincere. Satis-
fied it was a proper thing to do, we did it, and
had no mauvazse honte.

Nothing of that nature could be done in this

123



124 Recollections of an Old Musician

age. It would be called childish — ridiculous
perhaps. People are matured, blasi\ they will
run no risk of being considered inginue. We
can no longer bum enthusiastic incense to any
earthly idol.

At this first festival an epilogue was com-
posed and read by a Danish gentlemen, at that
time living in Lowell. I give the concluding
lines :

'' Great Harmonist ! Oh let the spirit wake
Once more to higher strains thy sacred harp ;
Methinks I feel the sacred impulse — hark !
I hear seraphic sounds : what notes divine
Breathe through the ravished air ! My rapt ear feels
The harmony of heaven. Hail sacred choir !
Immortal spirits, hail ! O Mendelssohn !
Be this thy praise : to lead the polished mind
To virtue's noblest heights ; to light the flame
Of German freedom, rouse the generous thoughts,
Refine the passions, and exalt the soul
To love, to heaven, to harmony, and thee."

Mr. John S. Dwight, the then accomplished
editor and critic of the Commonwealth^ gives
the following account of the affair :

"THE MENDELSSOHN COMMEMORATION

" The musical event of the season, at least
so far as sentiment, artistic unity, and com-



Recollections of an Old Musician 125

pleteness, selectness, and novelty may be re-
gardedy came off, in a way that more than
realized expectation, at the Melodeon on Mon-
day night It was a pure festival of art A
beautiful, sincere German enthusiasm inspired
it and adorned it. The Quintette Club,
prompted by the sentiment of the occasion,
had sent free tickets to the three hundred or
more subscribers to their chamber concerts.
But almost thrice that number, at an early
hour, were seated in the hall, which had been
tastefully and significantly decorated. In large
letters of evergreen the name * Mendelssohn *
was displayed upon the front of the gallery,
over the entrance, and on either side * Born
Feb. 3, 1809,' and * Died in 1847.* I^ ^h^
centre of the circle, focus of all eyes and of all
thoughts, — that is, in the front of the stage, be-
fore the organ, — that spot so often occupied
by vain and showy solo players who seemed to
place themselves before all music, — now rose
the calm, pure, classic head of the true genius
of the hour, a beautiful bust of Mendelssohn,
crowned with laurel. We confess our thoughts
were riveted to that intellectual, that unspeak-
ably beautiful and expressive face, in whose
fine and noble features one felt the union of a
masculine dignity and firmness with almost 9,



1 26 Recollections of an Old Musician

woman's feeling. And then the large, clear,
exquisitely moulded dome of thought, the
perfect forehead! To tell the feelings that
rushed through the mind and filled it all that
evening, would require more than our power
of expression. It should be a poem.

" But the effect was first complete when the
five young artists, with their instruments, had
seated themselves around their patron saint,
to interpret to us one of his quintettes. Then
as the music, his own music, woke, the calm
face elevated in the middle of the gfroup seemed
almost to open its eyes and move its lips ; and
who did not feel the music and the marble to
be mutual interpreters, and that the great
composer was thus doubly present to us ! The
sentiment of the thing was so complete that
the mind involuntarily hugged the spell ; and
any voice of conversation, even when a strain
was finished, seemed an interruption."

We duly observed many Mendelssohn birth-
days, but generally in private.

It may be worth recording that we got up
a Beethoven centenary birthday commemora-
tion in Bumstead Hall. We had the best of
assistance and played the entire septette, op.
20, with the original instruments, the piano
trio, op. 97, in B flat (Mr. Lang at the piano),



FEUX BARTHOLDV MENDELSSOHN.



Recollections of an Old Musician 127

a group of songs, and a string quartette. We
did our best It was a sincere offering, and
was practically the last concert the Mendels-
sohn Quintette Club gave in Boston on its
own account



CHAPTER XVI

IN September, 1850, Jenny Lind gave her
first concert in the old Castle Garden, at
the foot of Broadway, New York. Tickets
were sold at five dollars each. Large amounts
were also received from premiums, and there
was realized from that first concert thirty-five
thousand dollars — official record.

Does not the above read like exaggerated
nonsense ? Nevertheless, it is true history.

In 1850 there was no concert-room of de-
cent size uptown in New York, and Mr. P. T.
Barnum was allowed to alter the interior of
Castle Garden in such a manner as to fit it for
his purpose. It was made large enough to
hold between six and seven thousand persons,
the old circular form being retained.

Probably a year in advance of Jenny Lind's
advent in America, Mr. Barnum began to pre-
pare the American people to properly receive
"the musical saint," "the second Santa Cae-
cilia," " the angel of the stage," " the most
wonderful singer ever listened to by mortal

128



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 29

ears," etc, A regular system of short para-
graphs and lengthy histories was thencefor-
ward published and copied far and near.

Lind's early history was told and re-told :
the poverty ; the tribulations ; the childish sing-
ing-days in the streets for coppers ; her singu-
larly wonderful voice ; heard by a benevolent
lady; the singer ** taken up" by the lady;
placed in the hands of a music teacher ; sent
to Garcia in Paris ; years of careful training ;
preparations for the opera ; on the point of
making her cUbut^ when, — presto ! she loses her
voice ! Then for two long years her life was
one of sadness, patience, resignation, consola-
tion, till her voice returned, better than ever.
The two years had been utilized in absorbing
musical knowledge. Preparations were once
more made for the public cUbut. The cUbut
was a great success. Paris was carried by
storm. Henceforward she was in demand in
all the great capitals. Musical Europe lay at
her feet. London went wild over her. It
was discovered that she was splendid in ora-
torio (there was a master-stroke). I cannot
say how long her operatic career lasted, but I
think it was about six years.

Then she began to be serious-minded ; that
period was doubtless during, and by reason



1 30 Recollections of an Old Musician

of, the fortuitous environment of the Exeter
Hall devotees. Meantime, it was learned she
was giving her wealth away to poor people,
and so legitimately earning her right to be
considered a saint. She could not mingle
with theatre folk any more, and she renounced
the opera at the period when her ability and
her fame were at their zenith.

There are certain threads in this tabulated
and fabulated history which were facts. Jenny
Lind did give up singing in opera, and London
was " in sackcloth and ashes." Deputations,
remonstrants from the most aristocratic ranks,
even royalty itself, pleaded for her return to
the opera, but in vain.

It is believed, and doubtless it may be true,
that there was a time when the powers of
good and evil were wrestling for her, and it
was thought that she was wavering in her new
view of life's duties ; in common parlance, that
she was " still on the fence." In that period
of doubt the opera managers redoubled their
efforts, pathetically picturing the financial dis-
tress into which she had plunged them by
withdrawing from the opera at a critical mo-
ment ; and that so touched her soft heart that
she was on the point of yielding. But when
the Exeter Hall people heard of this weaken-



Recollections of an Old Musician 131

ing, they quadrupled their attentions, and
finally won her over for good.

All these details in the newspaper histories
had in them a share both of truth and non-
sense. Whether true or false, every point was
a good theme for a sermon or a story, and they
were all adroitly, artistically, diplomatically
written up by skilful romancers in the pay of
the long-sighted manager, Mr. Phineas T. Bar-
num. The result was that the public was made
to believe that saints and angels were nowhere
in comparison with Jenny Lind, and that a
hearing of her singing of / Know that my Re-
deemer Liveth was quite evangelizing in its
effect

She did sing it grandly, and with a fervor
which satisfied every musician. Handel him-
self would have gone down on his knees to
thank her for a true, devotional, musician-like
performance of that fine song.

Let us now consider for a moment what the
American people were at the period of Lind's
visit. They were at least not blasi ; they did
not spend their summers in Europe, conse-
quently everybody from the old world was
looked upon as a trifle superior. The gener-
ality of people were of a good, church-going
kind, and were (we do not say it in any depre-



132 Recollections of an Old Musician

dating spirit) rather gullible, especially when
the appeals were in the line of their faith ;
they were therefore in that state which de-
lights the managerial heart, that is, ready to
swallow every statement put forth.

After a year of Barnum's industrious prepa-
ration, the American people were brought up
to the point of giving very high prices and
big premiums. A greater excitement about
Jenny Lind and a stronger desire to see and
hear her, were aroused than have been manu-
factured in regard to any other mortal man or
woman, from that time to this, in any land on
which the sun shines. Old people could tell
you of sacrifices made to get money to hear
her which would lead you to think they were all
demented. And this craze was not confined
to the seaboard cities. The newspaper no-
tices had been copied inland, and people would
travel long distances to hear Jenny Lind if
she was not to come near them.

An Ohio friend related his experience to
me. Jenny Lind was to sing in Wheeling,
West Virginia, and he lived just sixty miles
west, towards Columbus. He was then a boy
of eighteen, and had been for three years ap-
prenticed to a clock-maker. His father was a
clergyman, with a large family and small sal-



ANTON HEKKINQ.



Recollections of an Old Musician 133

ary, and though a warm-hearted music lover,
was too poor to think of going to hear Jenny
Lind. Father and son had read together a
long notice of the approaching song-festival in
Wheeling, and the father had remarked with
a sigh of resignation, " I wish I could hear
her."

The son determined to try and go to Wheel-
ing for that purpose. He knew it was use-
less to ask his father for money or permission,
but he would "get there all the same." So
he started off one morning with a little kit
of clock-tools in his pocket, but not daring to
say anything to his family. He walked till
noon in the direction of Wheeling, then went
into a farmhouse, and asked if they did not
want their clock repaired. They "just did" ;
the old clock had not run for two years. The
expert boy put it in running order, and the
old farmer was so pleased that he gave him a
Mexican silver dollar and a good dinner.

In short, my friend spent three days on the
road to Wheeling, mending clocks by the
way and getting a little money for each. He
reached Wheeling, paid three dollars for his
concert ticket, heard Jenny Lind, and re-
turned home in a two days' march. His father
asked him where he had been, and he answered



134 Recollections of an Old Musician

that he had walked to Wheeling, mended
clocks, earned money to hear Jenny Lind,
and was happy. The father saw that he had
a son who was made out of good stuff,
embraced him, and said not one word of
reproof.

I had a personal experience which will stand
as evidence of the high price of tickets.
When Jenny Lind came to Boston the
excitement was at high-water mark. The
concerts were given in the old Tremont
Temple, which would hold about twelve hun-
dred persons. I was playing in the orchestra,
and doubtless wrote very rapturous letters to
a certain friend describing the greatness of
her singing.

One Saturday afternoon I received a tele-
gram from my friend, who lived about forty
miles from Boston, requesting me to purchase
three seats for that evening's concert and meet
him at the train. The party would be com-
posed of father, mother, and daughter. There
is no harm in saying now that I entertained a
youthful transient passion for the latter. Were
it not so there would be no story to tell.

I quickly ascertained that in order to buy
three good seats I must have forty-five dol-
lars — and to a dead certainty I did not have



Recollections of an Old Musician 135

five dollars to my name. It was a most em-
barrassing position for a young "pretender,"
I must not show my poverty, or my chances
would be slim, I had few acquaintances save
among my own impecunious kind. Fortu-
nately I was inspired to apply to Mr. John
Bigelow, the good father of the Mendelssohn
Quintette Club. I went to his store, then on
Washington Street, opposite the head of
Water Street, and laid the telegram on his
desk. It was from a mutual friend, and Mr.
B. looked at me smilingly ; then he read it
perhaps twice, and a great light broke on him.
Taking in the situation he said, " Well Tommy,
I suppose you have no money " ; to which I
answered with a lightening heart, " No, sir."
He then turned to his brother Alanson, and
told him to give Mr. Ryan forty-five dollars.
I bought the tickets and met the friends.

Most people think that the selling at auction
of the first choice of seats is a modern idea.
It is not so by any means ; for most distinctly
there was an auction sale for Jenny Lind's
first concert in Tremont Temple, Boston.
The first choice of seats was run up to
$640 and was bid off by Ossian E. Dodge,
a comic singer who used to travel round
the country giving concerts " all sole alone,"



136 Recollections of an Old Musician

accompanying himself on a guitar. Mn
Dodge shrewdly bought his ticket for a
business purpose. When the Lind concert
was held, it is questionable which one of the
two artists, Jenny Lind or Ossian E. Dodge,
was the most stared at

Mr. Dodge's object very soon declared
itself ; for well-made lithographs of him could
be seen in many of the shop windows, in which
he was posed as singing, guitar in hand, with
the legend in big type underneath, " Ossian
E. Dodge, the man who. gave $ 640 for the
first choice of seats to hear the great diva,
Jenny Lind." And shortly another litho-
graph appeared, which represented Jenny
Lind in the act of being introduced by P. T.
Barnum to Ossian E. Dodge, the great comic
singer. I think that will pass for a sample of
pretty skilful advertising. Those old worthies
could give points to us moderns ; for we can
scarcely show anjrthing so fine in its line.

To return to the musical part of the Lind
visit to America, Mr. Barnum had engaged
several good artists who were in keeping with
his star. Jules Benedict, the conductor, was
a composer of operas, a middle-aged man, of
very fatherly aspect, and just the dignified
person required to hand Jenny Lind on and



WULF FRIES.



Recollections of an Old Musician 137

oflf the stage. He was of fairly good musical
reputation and an experienced man in all mu-
sical routine, Signor Salvi was one of the
best tenor singers living ; Signor Belletti was
a very fine baritone ; and Otto Goldschmidt
was a brilliant pianist, who was afterward mar-
ried to Jenny Lind. There was always a grand
orchestra.

Jenny Lind's repertoire during her Ameri-
can tour was the " Casta Diva," from Norma;
" With Verdure Clad " and " On Mighty Pens,"
from the Creation; a cavatina from Beatrice
de Tenday by Bellini ; the great song with two
flutes from the Star of the North, by Meyer-
beer ; and " Non mi Dfr," from Don Giovanni^
by Mozart. She also sang in the trio from
// Barbier, and, with Belletti, the duo from
LElisire d^Amare, and a great variety of
the Swedish folk-songs. With the latter she
nearly always ended her concerts.

She used to introduce imitations of moun-
tain echoes in the Swedish songs, and people
said she did it ventriloquially, but I have al-
ways maintained that it was done by very
refined pianissimo singing.

I have often been asked, "How much of a
singer was Jenny Lind ? " I can say she de-
served all that was claimed for her, unmusical,



138 Recollections of an Old Musician

nonsensical stories excepted. Her voice was
of extensive range, reaching easily to D in
alt, — 3, voice of veiled quality with something
of the essence of a tear in it. She had almost
unlimited execution, sang with great earnest-
ness, and did everything in a highly finished,
broad style. Such pieces as the ** Casta Diva "
and / Know that my Redeemer Liveth she
sang with so devotional a sentiment that she
really seemed like some inspired priestess pro-
claiming her faith.

Doubtless many people in Boston will re-
member that once when she had reached the
end of the last-named song and made her bow
to the audience, Daniel Webster, who was a
listener, arose from his seat in the audience,
and with great dignity returned her bow.
^ Her intonation was perfect. Benedict had
written for her a very long cadenza to fit the
end of a cavatina from Beatrice de Tenda.
The cadenza was sung without accompaniment ;
it covered two pages of music paper, and was
written in a style suited to an instrumental
concerto. Towards the end there was a se-
quence of ascending and descending arpeggios
of diminished sevenths which flowed into a
scale of trills from a low note to one of her
highest ; then dwelling very long on that note



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 39

and trilling on it, she gradually, tranquilly re-
turned to the theme of the cavatina, when it
was perceived that her wonderfully fine musical
ear had unerringly guided her through the
mazes of the long cadenza and brought her
to the tonic note of the piece with surprising
correctness of intonation.

I think she was not overrated when called
a ** great singer."

The desire to hear Jenny Lind led almost
to a riot at her final concert in Boston. After
having squeezed out of the people all the
money possible at high prices, the astute P. T.
Barnum hired the upper part of the just fin-
ished Fitchburg Depot. About one third of
this upper floor (which was only one story up
from the street) was utilized for the railroad
company's offices, and they were on either side
of the building, with a wide passage way in
the middle which led to the hall. The offices
were made simply by window sashes from floor
to ceiling. In the body of the prepared con-
cert room there were reserved seats for about
fifteen hundred, and standing-room in the pas-
sage way and round the ends of seats for about
three hundred more. Rumor asserted that
five hundred, or even one thousand, of such
" standees " were sold. That may not be true,



I40 Recollections of an Old Musician

or it may not have been by connivance of Mr.
BarnuHL

The concert was given in the early summer
season, warm weather prevailing. Thousands
of persons had perched upon the roofs of ad-
joining buildings and coal-sheds, and the streets
round the depot were densely packed. The
only means of reaching the concert room were
the two corkscrew stairways at the front cor-
ners of the building. The reserved seat ticket-
holders were allowed to go up into the hall
first. Then at a given signal the dollar stand-
ees were admitted. There was one grand rush
and the unreserved space was filled in the
twinkling of an eye. People packed themselves
very close, and yet there was continually a cry
of ** Move up in front ! " with an awful pressure
from behind by those who were trying to
get in somehow, having paid for the expected
privilege.

The time came to begin the concert. The
orchestra played the overture, of which prob-
ably not a note was heard. Then came Signbr
Belletti. His song was simply pantomime and
" dumb show." Next came Jenny Lind. It
was not her turn to sing, according to the pro-
gramme, but Benedict brought her on to the
stage, thinking her appearance would still the



Recollections of an Old Musician 141

storm. It had a partial effect. She sang ** On
Mighty Pens," from the Creation. Towards the
end of the piece, the people who were penned
in the passageway between the offices, began
to suffer from heat and lack of air. They
smashed the glass partitions, and climbed in
and opened the windows. The fracas and
noise of breaking glass was frightful. A large
number of ladies fainted ; they were brought
into the orchestra anteroom, and very soon
overflowed into Jenny Lind's room, so great
was the confusion.

An effort was made to go on with the pro-
gramme, but, to the best of my recollection,
there was not another note heard after Jenny
Lind's song. People began to get out as best
they could. It was a slow process. I know
that we of the orchestra and the singers got
out by corkscrew stairs at the stage end, the
steps of which were all covered with mortar,
laths, and pieces of joist. Providentially, the
door at the foot of the stairs was unlocked,
and we reached the street safely, with our
instruments.

According to report, a dense mob rushed to
the Revere House, where it was said Bamum
stopped, but P. T., being warned of the com-
ing storm (also according to popular history),



142 Recollections of an Old Musician

took a hack out to Brighton and boarded a
night train for New York.

It was currently reported that from three hun-
dred to five hundred people who held dollar
admissions had not been able to even reach the
corkscrew-staircase entrance. I do not know
whether these ticket - holders ever recovered
their money.

Some little time after the above historic occur-
rence, Jenny Lind was married to Otto Gold-
schmidt, the pianist, in Boston ; and the pair
went to Round Hill in Northampton, Mass.,
where they spent their honeymoon.

Our Quintette Club had an engagement to per-
form the Class Day music at Amherst College.
By invitation of Jenny Lind and her husband
we went to Northampton a day in advance and
spent it with them. We certainly had a most
gracious reception and enjoyed much music
together. Jenny Lind sang all kinds of songs
for us, with her husband at the piano. Gold-
schmidt had just composed a concerto, and we
tried it over with him as far as a quintette
accompaniment would reach ; it was its first
performance. The day and evening were en-
joyable. The following morning we again met
and had a little more music, till the hour came
when we were forced to say our farewells.



Recollections of an Old Musician 143

We started in a hack for Amherst, eight
miles distant, in a pouring rain, which quickly
made the deepest kind of mud on the alluvial
plain that lies between Amherst and North-
ampton. Our music trunk was tied on the
rear rack of the vehicle, and when we were
about half-way on our journey, the entire frame
broke down, and the trunk fell into the mud.
The driver jumped off, rushed to a farmhouse,
got a rope, bound up the contrivance, and we
started again. We arrived a trifle late for our
work, but we were all young, and such mis-
haps sit lightly on young minds. Moreover
we were too full of Jenny Lind and music to
be depressed by any cares of business.



CHAPTER XVII

IT may have been two years after Jenny Lind
came to America that we had a visit from
Catherine Hays, or Kate Hays, as she was fa-
miliarly called Her company had Mr. La-
venu, a song writer, for conductor. I cannot
now say who was the enterprising manager.
The Barnum tactics were imitated, but it was
not possible to get people again up to such
fever heat

Miss Hays was a good singer, and her com-
pany was comprised of good artists, among
whom was a fine tenor, a son of old John
Braham, of "sea songs" fame. The party
made no financial success.

In 1853, Madame Sontag came to Boston
with a brilliant company, Carl Eckert being
the conductor. Madame Sontag, at the time
of her visit, was a handsome middle-aged
woman, reported to have been a startling
beauty in her best, younger days, when it was
said several duels, with fatal terminations, had
been fought on her account

144



Recollections of an Old Musician 145

This may have been but managerial manu-
factured romance. Most managers seem to
think that the adroit use of such stuff is abso-
lutely needful to create interest. Perhaps they
are right, from their standpoint. But it is
discouraging to conscientious performers to
know that they are considered of small ac-
count if they are simply good artists whom
cruel fate has tempted to remain good, honest
citizens, and who have never prowled on soci-
ety or " raised Cain " in any shape.

When the Sontag party first arrived in
America they had with them the fine boy vio-
linist, Paul JuUien. I think he was about fifteen
years of age at that time. He played mainly
Alard and Leonard pieces, and played them
very brilliantly. When the company had made
a limited concert tour, attended with indifferent
success, it was reorganized into an operatic
enterprise and the boy violinist returned to
Europe. I think his career was closed by death.

I remember distinctly Sontag in her best
r6le, " La Fille du Regiment" She was a most
attractive picture in her vtvandiire costume,
with the drum hanging from her neck by a
** sling," and as she was a good drummer she
won enormous success. She was certainly a
fine actress and an excellent singer.



zo



146 Recollections of an Old Musician

Carl Eckert, the conductor, is mainly re-
membered and known by our younger gener-
ation of singers as the composer of the Swiss
Echo Sang^ written expressly for Madame
Sontag.

Madame Alboni was the next very fine
singer who visited America, Oh, what a glo-
rious contralto voice was hers ! It was of a
silk-velvet quality (if I may be allowed to use
such a figure of speech), with deeply sympa-
thetic, expressive tones resembling very mark-
edly the lovely reedy tones of a violoncello.
Moreover, what technical wonders Alboni
could accomplish with that voice ! Her color-
ature in songs like Una Voce created the same
effect as a Carnaval de Venise performance on
the violin.

Alboni's position in the European musical
world was high. Her personal temperament
was of the genial, bonhomie quality. She seemed
always to be in a most happy humor, as if spe-
cially made to create joy around her. It was of
her that Berlioz, who doubtless was a cruel critic
in his imperative art-demands, said that what
she needed to make her one of the greatest
singers that ever lived, was to have a husband
who would beat her daily and make her ut-



Recollections of an Old Musician 147

terly wretched. She would then be able to
infuse into special rdles^ with fine eflfect, some
of the sorrow so salutarily beaten into her by
the suppositious brute of a husband.

But, .Hector, just stop a minute and think it
over. How could you wish that such a glo-
rious creature as Alboni might pass through
an experience like that, merely to make a
more artistic ** Parisian holiday ! " Perish the
thought ! There are enough sad-eyed women
in the world to satisfy the majority of men.
Relent, Hector, relent ; let happy natures re-
main happy, to diffuse the warmth and light
of sunshine about them. Rather let us get
along without sad music and turned-down
lights.



CHAPTER XVIII

IN May, 1854, I was married. In the autumn
we began housekeeping in Dix Place, near
Eliot Street, Boston. We had certain neigh-
bors who became our lifelong friends. I single
out for brief mention one family, by reason of
the great public interest then and now attend-
ing the different members thereof.

Our home was directly opposite the house
in which lived Mr. and Mrs. William Lloyd
Garrison with their four sons and one daugh-
ter, and certainly it was one of the interesting
happenings of my life that for two years we
could enjoy friendly intercourse with the fa-
mous abolitionist, — the "hounded man," the
man who, perhaps, next to John Brown, had
most truly acted up to the spirit of his convic-
tions. He had even then a growing army of
adorers, and certainly a very large one of
haters. What he suffered at the hands of
those haters is too well known to need any
chronicle here. I only know that Mr. Garrison
was for me a political idol ; but I choose to

148



WILUAM LLOyO GARRISON.



Recollections of an Old Musician 149

speak now simply of his charming personality
in his social and domestic relations.

In his family he was the beau-ideal of a lov-
ing husband and father. It was peculiar and
delightful to see him enter his house, hang up
his coat and hat, and proceed as if he were a
newly arrived lover. Whatever amount of
friction he may have encountered in the outer
world, it was at once forgotten. His demeanor
to the members of his family revealed a most
sweet and loving disposition.

Mrs. Garrison was a good reflection of her
husbands character. Indeed I used to think
she was a kind of saint, because she was like
a good mother in our family when our first
daughter was born. I gave piano lessons to
their little girl, Fanny, who in time became the
wife of Mr. Henry Villard. The sons of Mr.
Garrison have given a good account of them-
selves. The third son, Wendell Phillips Gar-
rison, has been for many years the editor of
The Nation.

Naturally, I had the opportunity to become
acquainted with many of the rank and file of
(in the common parlance of that day) ** those

d d abolitionists " who acknowledged Mr.

Garrison as master. All these people were
really of a peculiar type, most thoroughly un-



1 50 Recollections of an Old Musician

selfish, idealists, — " cranks," if you please ;
otherwise, people with a religion which set
them to working for the good of others.

It was also in the natural order of things
that if I knew Mr. Garrison I should know
Theodore Parker. I regard it as a piece
of great good fortune to have been in the
world at that period, and to have heard that
fearless preacher. Those were the times be-
fore the Civil War, when clergymen and
others were often mobbed because they re-
vealed the iniquity of human slavery. Parker
and Wendell Phillips, when they preached or
lectured, often required a body-guard to es-
cort them from their homes to the Boston
Music Hall and back. It seems almost an
incredible story, but it is true history, well
known in Boston.

Closely allied, in one sense, with all those
good souls, was the well beloved Rev. Thomas
Starr King, pastor of the HoUis Street Church.
What a bright man he was, and how anima-
ting in his pulpit utterances !

He was passionately fond of music. I re-
member that when Mr. J. Trenkle was organ-
ist of the church, it was part of the musical
programme that after the second hymn the
organist should make an extensive improvisa-



Recollections of an Old Musician 151

tion or play some set piece of fine music. Mr.
King believed it was as worthy a jubilate as
any human speech could utter ; and that good
music, artistically given, attuned his moral and
mental faculties to a fine spiritual state, and
invigorated him for the sermon yet to be
delivered. It is clear that he was inspired in
that belief, and many years ahead of a large
share of the human family.

We must not overlook one historical fact :
that Rev, Thomas Starr King was unofficially
sent out to California to keep that State in
the Union. He succeeded in his undertak-
ing, as has been recorded by better pens than
mine. I simply wish to express my joy in
having known him, and having been for a while
under his fascinating influence.

I recall with great pleasure the time when
I had the honor of working in collaboration
with Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in an attempt
to make a national hymn. A short time after
President Lincoln's call for troops, Dr. Holmes
did me the honor of coming to see me at
my rooms in the Pavilion on Tremont Street.
After mutual greetings, the Doctor said that
his friend, Mr. William Schultze (our Quintette
Club first violin),, under whose able tuition he
was studying the violin, had told him that Mr.



152 Recollections of an Old Musician

Ryan was just the man to make, in conjunc-
tion with him, a hymn acceptable to the peo-
ple.

It is to be remembered that the Civil War
had just begun, and calls were made through
the newspapers for a national song; it was
said that we could no more dispense with it
than we could with a flag, A group of patriots
in New York City had offered a prize for
such a hymn. Dr. Holmes thought we ought
to try for the prize. I was eager to do my
share. To collaborate with such a man was
an honor and a personal delight

Our modus operandi was first to select a
strongly marked march-rhythm, then he was to
write a few verses to fit it, and when that was
satisfactorily done I was to write an original
melody to his words. The plan was good
and practical. For the rhythm I selected
Washington's March. Then Dr. Holmes
began work.

He was a "chain-lightning" poet in his
rapid invention of verses. Furnished with
pencil and paper, he sat at the table and I
sang with a good lusty voice the melody of
the march ; singing it alternately slow or quick,
soft or loud. After a few trials, he " caught
on " to the rhythm and quickly found the cor-



L^, , \',\



Recollections of an Old Musician 153

responding poetical measure. From that mo-
ment he went on making verses ; and the
rapidity with which he changed words, ideas,
and poetic figures, transposed lines, dropped
certain trains of ideas and brought out stronger
ones, was extraordinary to me. The verses
grew under his fingers as rapidly as one might
write an ordinary epistle, — the Doctor singing
or humming the melody, or beating the rhythm
on the table.

We spent perhaps an hour in these researches
or exercises till the Doctor had covered perhaps
two pages of foolscap with his rough drafts.
He then left me, taking them with him, and
in a few days he brought me a pencilled copy
(which I have kept) of the first verse and
chorus that he had finally "whipped into
shape," and which, he said, satisfied his judg-
ment. Later on, he brought the entire hymn
written with ink (which I now have), five
verses in all, entitled Union and Liberty.
Under that caption, the hymn was printed
later, and afterward included in a collection
of his poems.

I give the first verse only :

" Union and Liberty.

" Flag of the heroes who left us their glory.
Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame.



154 Recollections of an Old Musician

Blazoned in song and illumined in story,
Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame !

Up with our banner bright,

Sprinkled with starry night,
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore ;

While through the sounding sky

Loud rings the nation's cry, —
Union and Liberty, one evermore ! "

We then tried to make another set of verses
of a less strongly marked martial rhythm. I
quite forget the melody they were to fit, but
it was to be rather slow, like the Austrian
Hymn.

The poet made six verses and a chorus,
entitled Freedom^ our Queen^ beginning with,

" Land where the banners wave last in the sun."

This set of verses is also published among
his poems.

We sent on our attempts to New York, as
doubtless many other people did, but nothing
ever came of it. No answer was returned, no
examination made, no prize awarded, so far as
we could learn. We had our pleasant labor for
our pains. But I prize the memory of having
collaborated with one of America's greatest
poets.



CHAPTER XIX

DOUBTLESS it will be of interest to some
of our old friends to have the various
changes in the membership of the Mendelssohn
Quintette Club indicated. The first to retire
was Edward Lehman (flute). He was suc-
ceeded by Gustav Krebs. The next was Francis
Riha (violin), succeeded by Carl Meisel. This
latter was an honored member for about twenty
years. He was a fine violinist, a man of
charming personal character, and is still alive,
working in his profession in Southern Cali-
fornia.

About the tenth year, August Fries retired
on account of ill health, and was suceeeded by
William Schultze, the former concert-master of
the Germania Musical Society. Schultze re-
mained our first violin for about twenty years.
During this period Mr. Wulf Fries, 'cellist, re-
tired after an honorable service with the Club
of twenty-three years. Mr. Fries is still an
active worker, and lives in Roxbury. He was
succeeded by Rudolph Hennig, who remained

X55



156 Recollections of an Old Musician

for about eight years, and was replaced by
Fritz Giese for five years. Then there were a
few temporary changes of 'cellists till Anton
Hekking came. It is to be seen that the Club
has had, from first to last, the best of 'cellists
to help make its reputation.

When Meisel retired, he was succeeded for
four years by the excellent violinist, Carl
Hamm. Then came Gustav Dannreuther,
well known in the musical world, who is now in
New York City, at the head of a quartette club
bearing his name. He was succeeded by the
well-known and popular violinist, C. W. Allen,
Thiele, and others.

During the period of these changes, various
good flautists, such as Beyer and Goering, were
with us. Next came the brilliant flautist, Ed-
ward Heindl, who played with us for twelve or
thirteen years, and was replaced by Schade
(latterly with the Boston Symphony), who was
followed by Henneberg, and Rodenberg up to
date.

When we lost our first violin, Schultze, we
lost one of the most genial men with whom I
ever came in contact He was not only a fine
violinist, but an excellent general musician, a
devoted student of literature, quite a linguist,
an inexhaustible story-teller, a generous-hearted



Recollections of an Old Musician 157

man, and always a gentleman in the fullest
sense of the word.

Schultze left us to accept a professorship in
the Wesleyan University at Syracuse, N. Y., but
after a few years of service he had a paralytic
stroke, from which he only partly recovered,
though he managed to work a few years longer.
One morning in 1890, while playing the violin
at a recital, his vital forces suddenly gave out
and he almost fell to the floor. His friends
came to his assistance, but the good spirit
which had been such a source of pleasure to
them had quitted its earthly tenement. He
died just as a good man would wish to die, in
harness and surrounded by his pupils.

Mr. S. Jacobsohn replaced Schultze for two
seasons. He was a splendid violinist, a grand
player in quartette. He could play with a
tender sentiment quite surpassing all players
I have ever heard, without exception ; and when
fully aroused he became a passionate player.
Altogether he was a master artist.

The Club, so far as good playing goes,
reached "high-water mark " with Jacobsohn as
first violin. The members at that time were :
S. Jacobsohn, Gustav Dannreuther, Thomas
Ryan, Edward Heindl, Rudolph Hennig.
We had in addition the contrabassist, Alex-



158 Recollections of an Old Musician

ander Heindl, for two years ; also Mr. Manoly
for the same length of time, both gentlemen
being virtuosi on the contrabass. At the end
of these four years we came to the conclusion
that we were simply giving ourselves a musical
gratification ; the public at large never appre-
ciated the increase of tone, so for financial rea-
sons we gave up the contrabass.

Mr, Bernard Listemann, the brilliant violin-
ist, replaced Jacobsohn for one season. Then
came Edward Heimendahl for two seasons, an
excellent man and violinist, with marked ability
as a composer. He was succeeded by the re-
markably fine violinist, Mr. Isidor Schnitzler,
at present one of the first violins and soloist
of the Boston Symphony,

One episode in the Club's history may be of
some little interest. We arrived one morning
in a certain Michigan town, and were met at the
railroad station by a friend of long standing.
In a very serious tone of voice he informed me
that another good friend of the Club, a 'cello
amateur, was so far gone in consumption that
his physician and family had given him up ; he
would probably die during the day. The ex-
pected visit of the Mendelssohn Quintette
Club had apparently kept him alive ; he
wanted to hear the Tema con Variazioni from



RUDOLPH HENNIQ.



■M



Recollections of an Old Musician 159

the Schubert D-minor Quartette before he
gave up the ghost He had placed a sum of
money in the teacher's hands to pay us.
Would we gratify him ?

The situation quite shocked me. I said,
"Of course we will play, but don't talk of
money."

The sick friend was at the same hotel in
which we were to be quartered. The plan was
for us to play in a room at some little distance
from his, but with both doors open. He
wanted the music to reach his ears as a last
sweet echo of his departing musical pleasures.

We prepared to play very soon after our
arrival at the hotel. To me, who knew the
young man well, it was a very solemn moment.
To play under such circumstances required
some self-possession.

On a lower floor in the hotel lay a brother
of the sick man who was also in a rapid de-
cline, and very near death. The mother was
in attendance at his bedside. Scarcely had
we reached the middle of the piece, when a
messenger from the mother came to request
us to stop, for the brother down-stairs was so
aflfected that she feared immediate death.
We ceased playing. This latter brother died
during the ensuing night ; but the one who



i6o Recollections of an Old Musician

wanted the music lived on, and some favorable
change occurred which gave him a fresh lease
of life, — good for some years after the time he
thought he was to hear his parting Swan Song.

This unique masterwork of Franz Schubert
has always been the one oftenest asked for,
and I must mention one other solemn occa-
sion when we had to play it A young lady
died in Dorchester who had been one of our
earnest friends and music lovers. She left a
sum of money with her brother in order that
he might engage the Quintette Club to play cer-
tain selections at her funeral. She had planned
the entire function. We played in a room ad-
joining the parlor where the religious service
was held. We began with the Swan Song,
playing it with muted strings. That was fol-
lowed by prayer. Then we played one of the
Seven Last Words of Christy — music composed
for string quartette. Next the burial service
was read, followed by addresses from friends ;
and we ended the exercises by playing another
of the Seven Last Words.

This was certainly an occasion when firm-
ness and composure were needed. Imagine
having to play music of such technical diffi-
culty at such a time, in such a situation, where
the burden of the song, " Death and the



Recollections of an Old Musician i6i

Maiden," had its counterpart in the adjoin-
ing chamber, for there was death, and there
also was the maiden.

I knew that the girl during the brief span
of her life had a very elevated and spiritual
love for music ; it spoke to her as nothing
else did. And her brother told me she was
steadfast in the belief that she would be pres-
ent in spirit during these last earthly rites,
and would again hear the music she loved so
well.

Knowing these facts, I was greatly affected
while playing. They kept surging through
my thoughts and brought me to the very
verge of sobbing. When we first began, I
must say, in familiar language, it was "just
awful." I shall never forget it, and hope never
to pass through a similar experience.



CHAPTER XX

IN the year 1859, the Quintette Club made
its first concert trip to Philadelphia, Balti-
more, and Washington, accompanied by Mrs.
J. H. Long, a fine soprano, of Boston. The
trip was successful, and we made an impres-
sion which encouraged us to repeat the ven-
ture many times. This little concert tournie
was practically our first playing outside of
New England. It seemed to us a very grand
thing to give publicly advertised concerts in
those large cities, and to attract good audi-
ences. All was new and interesting.

One experience is worth relating. I had a
letter of introduction to Mr. X., a great man
of the period, the publisher and editor of the
principal Washington newspaper. Calling to
see him on the day of the first of our two con-
certs in the old Willard Hall, I was courteously
received, and after I had explained the motive
of my call, I expressed the hope that he would
send a reporter to the concert that evening so
as to have a detailed report in the next morn-

162



Recollections of an Old Musician 163

ing's paper, and thus help us to a full house on
the second night. The good old gentleman
replied that his daughter was the only person
whom he could trust to write musical notices
for his paper. She was not in very good
health, but if she could not attend the con-
cert he would have something written up for
the morning's issue without fail.

The concert attracted a fair attendance, and
gave evident pleasure. In next morning's
paper we found the " something without fail "
in the shape of a glowing article ; but, — mir-
dbtle dtctu/ — ^we were all singers instead of
players ! — a kind of Hutchinson-family arrange-
ment ; that being the sort ofr music then most
enjoyed by the public.

The notice in question contained ecstatic
praise of the soprano, and also of the sympa-
thetic alto, declaring that so good a voice had
never before been heard in Washington. The
tenor ** had the true timbre of a tenor voice,"
— there was no suspicion there of a light
baritone. The bass was " a really organ-like
support for the beautiful musical superstruc-
ture." The concert was quite an ideal one,
etc.

These are not the exact words, perhaps, but
they are the substance of the notice, which I



1 64 Recollections of an Old Musician

now have, filed away in my treasury of funny
happenings.

It did us good service, nevertheless, and we
had a full house the second night. Probably
if we had been described as a club of instru-
mental players, composed of " four violins and
a bass "(which is the musically intelligent way
in which we are often even now depicted), our
fate would have been sealed in Washing-
ton. Classic music is still caviare to many
people, and thirty-six years ago it was a
thing of dull and dubious character to the
uninitiated.

As years rolled on, people from the western
states who had ^heard our club play in or
around Boston, often asked, " Why don't you
come out West ? "

Accordingly I made practical inquiries in
regard to a concert trip, and received encour-
aging replies. Still I thought it would not be
safe to try it unless we had some " star " with
us, to add to our attractions. We finally
reached the venturing-point, and engaged as
stars Miss Adelaide Phillips, the well-known
contralto, and Camille Urso, the distinguished
lady violinist. We were managed by Harry
McGlennen, the well-known advertising man-
ager, so long at the Boston Theatre, and



CAMILLE URSO.



Recollections of an Old Musician 165

•

made a short trip of three or four weeks, meet-
ing with good success.

Madame Urso deserves something more than
a mere passing mention. She is easily the
most remarkable violin player who ever came
to America and made her home among us. I
well remember her as she appeared at her
ddbut in Jonas Chickering's piano rooms.
She was then a little girl of eleven, with the
same sad and interesting face that she has
now. Yet, when not playing, she is full of
fun, and her conversation is richly humorous.

Her playing as a child was very artistic.
She made her cUbut in the " Fantaisie " on //
Pirate, by Artot, accompanied by her father on
the piano, and she won an immediate success.

Her career is too well known to demand
any detailed account from me, but I wish to
emphasize the fact that she has made constant
progress in her art. She has played all the
modern masterworks, the great concertos, in
the principal concerts in New York, Boston,
and, indeed, in all the larger cities from Maine
to California, and she is still earning laurels.

She has played so often with our club, and
I know her fine points so well, that it is not
easy for me to speak of her playing except in
unqualified eulogy.



1 66 Recollections of an Old Musician

To return to my narrative, after that trial-trip
I decided that it was a safe thing to undertake
a travelling concert season, and that we did
not need " stars " to attract audiences. Indi-
vidual star singers and players had been heard
everywhere in the West ; ensemble playing was
the novelty. We prepared for the long sea-
son's travel, and engaged one of our charm-
ing home singers to accompany us, Miss Addie
S. Ryan (not a daughter of mine, as many
imagine). She had a rich and very sympathetic
voice, was a good all-round singer, and very
"taking" in ballads. She became a great
favorite wherever heard.

The financial result of the long season of
travel was good, and for many years we made
similar trips, and (which will surprise many
persons) without the help of any advance
agent. All details and arrangements for our
appearance in towns and cities were made by
correspondence. To be sure, it kept me busy,
but the West of that period was not the West
of to-day. To a certain degree we had the
entire western country to ourselves. There
were no other musical people travelling.
There were very many minstrel companies
(which did not injure us), and a few dramatic
troupes. We were in demand everywhere;



Recollections of an Old Musician 167

the main trouble was to get dates. Money
was plentiful, — every one was " flush " after
the war.

Before long we began to have imitators, —
either in '63 or '64. The first musical organiza-
tion to follow in our wake was the " Redpath
Parlor Opera Company," organized in Boston.
It was a quartette of good home-singers. Clara
Nickels was the soprano. Flora Barry the alto,
Charles Clark the tenor, Edward Payson the
bass and John A. Howard the pianist. They
began first as a concert company, and after-
ward wisely turned into a parlor opera com-
pany, doing acts of either Martha or Don
Pasguale. They were very successful and in a
little while they in their turn had imitators.

Little by little companies enlarged their
personnel till the full-fledged affair appeared
and captured the country with Pinafore.
I gladly turn over to future historians this
line of the divine art of music, knowing that
they will have a " nice little job " to keep track
of the numberless big and little opera com-
panies who are now actively competing with
each other in the struggle for existence.

In 1868 the Club was in Chicago. The time
had come when I could no longer dispense
with the services of an advance agent, — com-



1 68 Recollections of an Old Musician

petition was becoming active. I secured a
good one in Mr. D. H. Elliot, who was a
Georgian by birth, and had been a Confederate
officer of marked ability. I found him to be a
man of wonderful managerial resources, so I
let him have free rein.

He opened with a brilliant coup. A big
political convention was being held in the
Crosby Opera House. Elliot had five thous-
and little " dodgers " made of gossamer paper,
four by six inches in size, on which was printed :
" The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston,
the most wonderful body of instrumentalists in
America, will soon arrive in Chicago, and will
play for one week in the Crosby Opera House.
Tell your friends the joyful news." At a given
moment during the convention, these five thou-
sand little bits of paper (like Chinese printed
prayers) came fluttering down from the cupola
of the opera house to all parts of the assembly.
Everybody grabbed for them, and a point was
gained. The daily papers exploited the joke,
and excited enough interest to give us six
good houses for one week. We paid two
hundred dollars per night for the opera house.
That fact now reads like a fairy tale. Those
were great times after the war ; everybody had
money and spent it right royally.



Recollections of an Old Musician 169

I

I must relate another exploit of our brave
ex-Confederate soldier. We had made a Jittle
summer concert trip to Niagara Falls, and gave
one or two concerts. It is to be remembered
that immediately after crossing the bridge over
the rapids to Goat Island, there used to be a
small paper mill on the right-hand side, the
walls of which were built directly on the edge
of the wild, rushing waters. Elliot often did
the unexpected thing. This time he went into
the office of the paper mill, and asked if they
had any objection to his putting up a poster
for a concert on the walls of the mill over the
rapids. They laughed derisively and said they
had no objection, — " Go ahead."

We were using as advertising material at
that time, a long, showy streamer — each letter
a full sheet — ^which bore in black letters shaded
by red on a white ground, " Mendelssohn
Quintette Club of Boston." It was a stunning
thing ; it could be read five miles distant

Elliot borrowed a skiff, put all his pasting
and other materials into it, hired some good,
reliable men to assist, and got the skiff across
the bridge and into the water. He then
boarded it, with one man to help, and his
other assistants on shore paid out a long
rope, to which the boat was attached, until it



1 70 Recollections of an Old Musician

reached the wall, on which he pasted up every
letter and returned to terra firma in safety.
It was a crazy, dangerous thing to do, but it
paid. Everybody went to see the poster,
which could be read easily at the old Grand
Trunk Railway bridge, two miles distant, and
all along the Canada shore. The desired
point was gained ; it excited all kinds of re-
marks, and I believe remained upon the wall
for two years. The paper and paste were
good, and no one cared or dared to risk get-
ting it down.

Another story characteristic of Elliot is
worth telling. At Geneva, N. Y., a minstrel
troupe had just preceded us. Their pictorial
bills were still up, depicting the minstrels in
full artistic action on the stage. The local
bill-poster, infatuated, doubtless, with "them
lovely pictures," and hating to cover them up,
as they were so aesthetically ornamental to the
town, conceived the idea of pasting our big
streamers directly above them, and our three-
sheet bills on each side, thus making an exact
frame for their picture. To all appearance, the
whole thing was one show, — the Mendelssohn
Quintette Club were the minstrels, or the min-
strels were the Mendelssohn Quintette Club,
just as the casual passer-by might infen



Recollections of an Old Musician 17^

Elliot was so pleased with the complete-
ness of the unwonted combination, that he
borrowed from the poster-man his working
clothes, dressed up in them, got the paste-
bucket, brush, and ladder, took up a position
at the side of the picture, pointed to it with
evident admiration, and had a photographer
take a shot at the whole, and thus made it
immortal.

Mr. Elliot was a good, level-headed Ameri-
can. After travelling for us two years he de-
termined to settle down and begin work for a
permanent home. He has been for some
years in Florida, and is one of Mr. Plant s
right-hand men, which; as maybe known, means
very much. Morever, the State of Florida
sent him to the Paris, Vienna, and Columbian
Expositions, to show up its resources.

Our old agent still often travels long distances
to see and hear us ; then we have a good, square
chat and, like old soldiers, we go over the skir-
mish-lines and battle-fields once more.



CHAPTER XXI

IN 1872, as our Club, individually and collec-
tively, were tired of travelling and of being
away so much from our families, we determined
to try to establish ourselves again in Boston.
With ample preparation and all the thought
we were capable of concentrating on the work,
we three men, Mr. Schultze, Mr. Heindl, and
myself, began the venture of establishing the
" National College of Music."

We had a faculty of genuine artists, com-
prising : Vincenzo Corillo from the Royal Mu-
sic School in Naples, principal vocal teacher;
Mr. Charles Hayden, assistant ; and Mr. B. J.
Lang, head of the piano department The
assistant piano teachers were all brilliant
young men whom Lang had taught and de-
veloped, namely : Mr. Geo. W. Sumner, well
known and beloved as organist for seventeen
years at the Arlington Street Church, Mr.
Hiram Tucker, Mr. W. F. Apthorp, Mr.
Dixie, and Mr. J. Q. Adams. All these men
would naturally teach according to the Lang

17a



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 73

method, and that certainly was a commenda-
ble system. As teachers of string instru-
ments, we had of course the Quintette Club.

We held a matinee of classic music every
Saturday, and the pupils were expected to be
present Those who were capable of playing
ensemble music had therefore frequent oppor-
tunity of doing it with the Quintette Club.
The same privilege was given to singers.

Our plans were all right, and we started off
with goodly numbers, — not far from two
hundred pupils. In October, just one month
later, the great Boston fire occurred ; and it
made everybody poor. The majority of the
pupils were from the city or neighborhood,
and over one half of them were forced to
notify us that they could not continue their
attendance another term. The fire really
killed our school. We worried along to the
end of the year, met our losses as best we
could, and returned to our old system of
travelling, — in short, " took to the road " again.

A fearful amount of time is spent on rail-
road trains while jogging from town to town
in our country of great distances. At first it
is novel enough, with its ever-changing kalei-
doscope of experiences, to make the time go
quickly ; but when the second or third season



1 74 Recollections of an Old Musician

of such travel comes round, what a ** demnition
grind" it is! The very disagreeable people
one sometimes meets, the waiting at junctions,
the unwholesome food, the running of trains
at very unseasonable hours, as far as the
traveller's comfort is concerned, — all these
make a sum total of petty miseries which is
very considerable. In such circumstances, if
some one comes along who at once shortens
the hours and sweetens the life, — even to the
limited extent of making one forget the worst
part of it, — that person is a very welcome com-
panion.

Just such a desirable person entered our car
one dull, rainy day on the New York Central
Railroad, — a, very attractive lady lecturer and a
marvellously fine story-teller. She employed
so much verve and action in her narrations
that one could almost see the scenes described.
Knowing her well, I was delighted to meet
her again and to learn that we were to be
travelling companions for some hours.

Every story-teller knows there are two kinds
of listeners, — the simply attentive listeners,
and the encouraging, inspiring ones. On the
day in question, I must have been of the latter
kind, for my friend unreeled story after story,
in most of which she figured as principal ; and



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 75

I am sure she invented nothing, though pos-
sibly she may have added a little coloring
matter. The stories are too good not to put
one or two in print for future Bunsbys. For
the sake of convenience I will call the lady
" Miss A."

She had been engaged to lecture in a rather
small town in Northern Illinois, and it was
her first visit to that section of country. On
account of some misunderstanding as to the
hour of arrival, there was no committee-man,
with welcoming face, to meet her. To a lady
lecturer travelling alone, words of welcome
and regretful farewells coupled with the " hope
that we shall have you again next year," con-
stitute the greater part of her reward,— omit-
ting for the moment, if you please, the tender
little check received after the work is done.

Finding no one to meet her, and know-
ing the name of the hotel where she was to
stop. Miss A. was the first one to enter
its waiting 'bus, and, taking one of the seats
farthest from the door, she awaited further
developments. In a few minutes two ladies
entered, who eyed her wonderingly and ex-
changed glances and remarks in a way that
was not sweetly comforting — soon interrupted,
however, by the entrance of several men with



1 76 Recollections of an Old Musician

musical instruments. The newcomers also
looked questioningly at Miss A., but business
was evidently on hand, for they began to take
out their instruments from bags and cases. Miss
A. also noticed that a man spread a cover of
fringed white cloth over each horse, bearing
some legend which she could not make out,
and ornamented with designs of an artistic
nature at the corners, groups of banjos, man-
dolins, fiddles, triangles, flutes, castanets, etc
Then the men opened the windows in the 'bus,
and " the band began to play."

Just imagine the young lady lecturer shrink-
ing into her corner, the stunning noise of ten
or twelve brass instruments, reinforced by a
big bass drum on the roof of the stage, every
blow on which seemed to strike her on the top
of her head, and also to act on the honest, staid
horses like a bunch of exploding firecrackers
tied to their tails. Away they flew and al-
most brought about the crack of doom to the
'bus and its occupants. The bandmen, how-
ever, taught by previous experiences, perceived
that a fifty measures' rest would be a good
thing just then, and stopped playing until the
horses quieted down. After a while they be-
gan again, and as the man on top thumped
mezzo forte this time the horses seemed only



Recollections of an Old Musician i n

to be rejuvenated by the sweet sounds and
behaved decorously.

The cortlge went pretty much all over town,
and finally halted at the hotel. The bandmen
and the two ladies got out of the 'bus. Miss A.,
summoning up all the life that was left in her,
and separating herself from the crowd, got out
with all becoming dignity. The landlady, who
was evidently waiting for her, came forward,
received her very cordially, and conducted her
to a cosy, charming room, where she fluttered
and flattered with an impressement that only
one woman can show to another.

Finally she left her, saying that tea would
be ready soon, and she would meet her at the
dining-room door. The poor martyr, thankful
for the momentary quiet, gave vent to her
pent-up anguish in a woman's usual, blessed
way, — namely, tears, — ^bemoaning the fate
which had sent her on the road to drift about
among such scenes and people.

The soothing influence of quiet and rest
soon restored her composure, and she de-
scended to the dining-room. Duly met by the
landlady, she was conducted to a separate ta-
ble, where covers for two were laid, and it
really was a " nice spread." The good hostess,
who had, unasked, fastened herself on Miss A.



za



1 78 Recollections of an Old Musician

as a companion, chatted and buzzed and amused
her greatly.

The repast over, the landlady, evidently with
some unusual pleasure still in anticipation,
conducted Miss A. to her room. Unable to
contain herself any longer, she burst out with, —

" Now, I want to see your gowns."

" My gowns ! what gowns ?"

" Why, your stage gowns."

" My stage gowns ! I have no other gowns
than the one I have on."

"But" — in a very pleading tone — ** where
are your play-gowns for the stage ? "

" Play-gowns ! Oh, I see ! there is some
mistake . I don't play."

" Don't you belong to the show ? "

" No, no ; I 'm not up in the art-world like
that I am only a humble lecturer, and am to
speak in the church to-night."

This confession fairly caused the landlady
to turn pale and gasp for breath. The full
extent of the fraud she had practised on herself
was so great that it completely robbed her of
power to speak ; but it brought an expression
of disgust and contempt into her countenance
which was more scathing than a diction-
ary's whole store of epithets. Turning her
back on Miss A. she vanished from view, and



Recollections of an Old Musician 1 79

did not show herself again while that lady
stayed at the hotel.

The scene of another story was laid in a re-
mote section of Wisconsin. A (very) ** Young
Men's Society " were to hold a series of lec-
tures for the first time in their town, and Miss
A. was to open the course. When she stepped
out of the warm and comfortable car, she real-
ized very quickly that it was a cold, wintry
day, little adapted to the reception that had
been planned for her. The entire society,
some twenty in number, had delegated them-
selves to meet the lecturer, and they were
drawn up in line on the sidewalk like a mili-
tary company. The leader came forward, led
Miss A. to the line, and ceremoniously intro-
duced her to every Brown, Smith, Jones, etc.,
of them all. This duty done, he wiped his
brow and looked around as if for some one to
tell him what to do next. Miss A. suggested
that, as it was so very cold, she would like to
go to her hotel. The company escorted her
to a one-horse sleigh, waiting near, the leader
handed her in, — the young men watching every
motion, — ^got in himself, and then with that
true though timid gallantry characteristic of
the rural^ young American, offered her the
reins. She thanked him, but declined on the



i8o Recollections of an Old Musician

ground that he probably knew the way and
the horse better than she did.

When evening came, the whole youthful
regiment was on hand to escort Miss A. to the
little theatre where the lecture was to be given.
The house was packed. She took off her
wraps and followed her leader to the stage,
which was decorated with a small table, a
pitcher of water, and a tumbler. There was
also a long, old-fashioned settee, with legs
under the middle and at either end. Tak-
ing a seat at the farther end she noticed that
it tilted down with her. Presently a large,
heavily built clergyman came on to the stage,
sat down on the other end of the settee, and
up she went, her feet no longer touching the
floor. Everybody laughed. The tilting was
great fun to the good-natured, honest, typical
country audience.

Having nothing else to do. Miss A. scanned
the assemblage. Foremost, leaning his folded
arms on the edge of the stage, was a young
man in a red flannel shirt (probably one of the
fire company), who watched all her movements
with the most careful attention, never once
taking his eyes from her. Finally the reverend
gentleman arose rather suddenly, letting Miss
A.'sendof the settee down with a thud, which



Recollections of an Old Musician i8i

brought out another good-natured laugh from
all parts of the house. The reverend gentleman
began the proceedings with a long-winded
introductory speech, under which infliction the
audience grew more and more restless, until the
young man in the red shirt, unable to hold in
any longer, blurted out, " Dry up, old man, and
give the young gal a chance ! " Whereupon
the prologue came to an end and the lecture was
delivered without further incident.

Miss A. told me a third story, which reveals
her good and generous, but impulsive charac-
ter. She was engaged to lecture in a college
town in Ohio, and was met at the station by one
of the professors, at whose house she was to be
entertained. On the way thither the gentleman
expressed his sentiments in regard to women's
rights in so offensive a way that he roused in
her the strongest kind of an antipathy. He
was so opinionated and arrogant that, to use
her own words, " He set all my woman's blood
boiling when airing his opinions." I inferred
that the unlucky man had been " in for it,"
and had unquestionably received the punish-
ment that she was quite competent to give.

Arriving at the house, Miss A. inquired for
her hostess, and the gentleman replied that
she was busy preparing supper. She had a



1 82 Recollections of an Old Musician

large number of boarders — students — and was
attending to her duties ** as a good housewife
should " (strongly emphasized) ; by which
speech the man of course floundered deeper
into Miss A's disesteem.

In due time a messenger came to Miss A.'s
room to say that tea was ready and they were
"waiting prayers." Miss A. replied that she
would wait till the lady of the house could see
her. That must have raised a breeze, for the
good housewife soon came up, in breathless
haste. The picture which Miss A. had men-
tally conjured up of the lady fitted her perfectly.
She was a thin, anxious, nervous, overworked
woman. After a minute's conversation the
two ladies descended to prayers and tea.
While at the tea-table Miss A. tried her best to
draw out the lady hidden in the drudge, to
help her to be properly esteemed by all present,
and to have them understand that the wife was
filling an honorable position at the head of the
table, though she had previously prepared the
food with her own hands.

In the course of the conversation Miss A.
modestly expressed the hope that her hostess
would be pleased with her lecture.

" Oh, dear me," was the answer, " I cannot
go ! I have too much to do. I have no help.



Recollections of an Old Musician 183

and I must wash and put away the tea things,
etc."

Miss A. replied that she would help her do
all that, — and in fact there would be no lecture
that evening if she did not go with her. Miss
A. carried her point, sent for a hack, and took
the lady to and from the lecture, totally ignor-
ing Mr. Pomposity. Her lecture being on the
subject of righting women's wrongs, she
thought it was as well to begin righting them,
or fighting for them, then and there.

I remember telling Miss A. of a certain ex-
perience of my own which is possibly worth
repeating.

Calling one day on the City Attorney of a
small town in Northern Illinois, and waiting in
his office for a little transaction to be effected
between the attorney and a caller, I noticed
on the mantelpiece two well-known statuettes,
one representing a "Cavalier," the other a
" Roundhead," both illustrative of English his-
tory. Examining the Cavalier I saw a small
inscription on its base which puzzled me. It
was ** General Grant." The make-up of the
figure was that of a cavalier soldier, with a
large felt hat and feather, an arquebus on the
left shoulder, a sword at his side. The Round-
head had cropped hair, surmounted by a



1 84 Recollections of an Old Musician

leather, pot-like head-covering, and his right
hand grasped a long Cromwellian sword,
point straight down. On the base of this
figure was written, " General Butler."

Knowing the figures and their significance,
I turned to the attorney and asked for the
" joke." " Well," said he, with a hearty laugh,
*• I Ve had my money's worth of fun from
those little things, which I bought from a
travelling art dealer, little dreaming of the
endless questions and explanations they would
require. One day, before I affixed those gener-
als' names, a good honest rustic asked, * What
be them, anyway ? ' I said, * I suppose you have
heard of the statutes of Illinois?' He said,
"Yes." I said, "Well, them's 'em," and that
satisfied him. Very soon I perceived that I
must have some other plan to permanently
switch off remark, so I attached the names.
One caller very closely examined the figures,
and after some cogitation he remarked, " I
did n't think Grant looked like that, but Butler
is just splendid ; any one can see it is like
him."



CHAPTER XXII

IT may be well to say that I am not undertak-
ing to write the musical history of the
United States, nor even of Boston ; but I be-
lieve the Jubilees are as worthy of being put
on record as would be a first performance in
America of the Parsifal by Richard Wagner ;
though in comparison with the latter, the
Jubilee music is like a boy compared with a
man. But without the first, the other could
not be. Parsifal is the man fully grown (some
think he is the nepltis ultra) y while the Jubilees
represent the boy, — the tearing, rowdy young
fellow, in his first stage of musical growth.

There are musical people of the present age
who ask, " What were those Jubilees you talk
about ? " Some of them may add, " I find in
my good mother's library a stack of chorus
music marked * The Jubilee Collection * ; and
among those pieces are works written by our
native composers, together with great ora-
torios and some trash. What does it all
mean ? When did the Jubilees occur ? "

185



1 86 Recollections of an Old Musician

I will try to answer those questions, premis-
ing that there could not have been Jubilees
without Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore; and we
must know his history to know that of the
Jubilees.

It is well understood that all talented men
are of Irish parentage, for that naturally in-
cludes the present writer (!) as well as Mr. Gil-
more, — or rather " P. S.," as all his friends called
him. As a boy he lived in Salem, Mass., and
quite early in life he was a member of the
Salem Band, and afterward its leader. His
next step forward made him, in 1852, a member
of the somewhat famous " Ordway Minstrels,"
in Boston, then playing in the little hall of the
historical " Province House," where, in colo-
nial times, the governors and nabobs held
high court,— or "high jinks," as we may
properly call it.

If we here allow a spirit of discursive moral-
izing to take possession of us, we shall have a
fine chance to make mental pictures of the old
colonial days, to see in fancy the red-coated
king's officers, the bedizened governor and his
courtiers, the young bucks and belles of the
period, the guards of honor in and about the
diminutive but cozy little place of royal rev-
elry, and then to compare it all with an enter-



PATRICK & SILMORE.



Recollections of an Old Musician 187

tainment prepared for our modern republican
pleasure-loving people, — so entirely different,
even in their pleasures. In old times, " pleas-
ures " meant chiefly eating, drinking, dancing,
hunting, and love-making. The latter, in its
primitive essentials, remains the same, and
doubtless will till the end of time, but in other
things our modern system of pleasures is vastly
different from that of the colonial days. It is
true we eat and drink, and we dance a little,
but we have evolved a large class of people to
entertain us in various ways, and to do it with-
out any effort on our part. One species of
this entertainment is, or was, negro minstrelsy ;
perhaps we might call it " low jinks." We see
a band of these fun-providing people holding
their revelry in that same Province House
hall, and what a cruel contrast is thus made by
the irony of fate ! Where English nobles once
held court, we now see the Irish boy, Patrick
Gilmore, snapping his fingers in derision at
nobles or their king, — and yet only in the spirit
of professional fun, for he with his good breth-
ren are thus earning their daily bread.

From out the frame of that picture we may
now withdraw the aspiring boy, P. S. Gilmore,
for he shortly after graduated into one of the
military bands in Boston. Step by step he



1 88 Recollections of an Old Musician

climbed the ladder, and finally we had " Gil-
more's Band." " P. S." was an active, restless
** hustler," and his band was soon on the top
of the wave. When the war broke out, Gil-
more showed at once the stuff he was made
of. He was an ardent " off-for-the-war " man.
Meetings to help along enlistments for the
army and navy were being held everywhere.
Gilmore and his full band constantly played
at these meetings, and I dare say played out
of pure patriotism. With his band in gay
uniforms and ribbons flying from their hats, as
in old days, he even paraded the streets of
Boston, drumming up recruits for the Massa-
chusetts 24th Regiment

The next step was that he and his whole
band volunteered as soldiers, regularly enlisted
as the band of the 24th, and with that regiment
went to the war. It is on record that he and
his men were always on hand to cheer up " the
boys " with good music when they most needed
it, and he even got some of the bright young
spirits of that crack regiment to form a min-
strel company. In fact, he showed his energy
and good fellowship in every situation.

After about a year's service in North Caro-
lina, his band, like most of the regimental
bands, was mustered out. General Banks,



Recollections of an Old Musician 189

commanding the Department of New Or-
leans, urged Mr. Gilmore to go to that city
and become the chief director of music in his
command. He accepted, and was a very pop-
ular man in that capacity. He organized one
very large school-children's music festival, and
it doubtless gave him a good preliminary ex-
perience in managing large numbers of per-
formers.

When the "cruel war was over" Gilmore
went back to Boston, and once more had ** to
hustle for a living." He reorganized his
band, brought it up to its best estate, and for
several seasons gave Sunday night sacred and
popular concerts in Music Hall or Boston
Theatre. He was a venturesome manager,
paying high for drawing cards, and usually
had a big orchestra and chorus in addition to
his band. He did all the drilling and direct-
ing of the musical forces himself, attended to
the financial details, and managed to get valu-
able assistance from the newspapers ; in fact,
he manifested an energy which was astound-
ing. His large " pull " on the military element
in Boston was a great help to him. In the
midst of this activity in public entertainments,
he formed a partnership (Gilmore & Wright)
for the manufacture of band instruments.



\



iQo Recollections of an Old Musician

I mention all these points to show that Mr.
Gilmore was a very bright, energetic man.
And whether he lost or made money, his
cheery temper always remained unruffled and
unclouded. His popularity was great ; and all
his earlier ventures and activity were simply
an apprenticeship for really large doings a
little later.

I cannot say positively whether the embryo
idea of a Jubilee emanated from him, or
whether it took form from the chance sug-
gestion of some one else ; but I believe it to
have been a Gilmore idea because of the
peculiar make-up of the man. He was an
earnest, loyal American. All the Southern
States had come back into the fold, and we
were once more a glorious Union. Peace and
plenty reigned. Gilmore was just the sort of
man into whose head would come buzzing
the idea that the nation should have a big,
rollicking family jubilee to celebrate the
happy state of the country. Boston was the
place above all places in which to hold it It
should be a musical and social reunion, — a
magnificent jubilate. Such it was in reality.

Mr. Gilmore had the ability to inspire a
very large number of people with a belief in
him and his idea, who were willing to become



Recollections of an Old Musician 191

financial guarantors. Accordingly a wooden
building of good acoustic properties was
promptly erected on the Back Bay lands, near
or on the site of the present Art Museum, — 3,
building capable of holding fifty thousand per-
sons, including a big chorus of ten thousand
and a great orchestra of one thousand. The
audience was to be seated in chairs on a
level, oblong floor and in the deep balcony
which ran round the sides and the end facing
the stage. A great organ was built for the
occasion ; also a bass drum, the head of which
might have been ten or twenty feet in diame-
ter. This drum was a special point of attrac-
tion ; it seemed as big as a Fourth of July
balloon.

The musical part of the Jubilee — all things
considered, — ^was noble and dignified. The
great chorus, the great orchestra, the great
organ, the great drum, and the great singer,
Parepa-Rosa, with her wonderful, never-to-be-
forgotten rendering of the Inflammatus, may
seem, at this distance of time and develop-
ment of musical taste, as something only
" great " to laugh at. Yet, when a whole
serious-minded community like that of Boston
"took stock" in it, and the spirit of the idea
was carried out happily, is it not perhaps



192 Recollections of an Old Musician

rash to mock at it ? Have not the results
been far-reaching, doing their work in this
world of evolution just as the chromo pre-
pares the way for high art? Who can say
that a large share of Boston's musical reputa-
tion was not earned by the Jubilees ?

Returning to details, it will surprise many
to know that the orchestra numbered quite a
thousand — ^with the patriotic Ole Bull at the
head of the violins, and Carl Rosa playing at
the same desk. Gilmore had engaged all the
principal sopranos of Boston, constituting a
"bouquet of artistic singers." These were
placed on a special raised balcony between
the orchestra and the chorus, and they sang
in unison the obligato parts as they occurred
in the choral pieces.

Great care had been exercised all through
the preceding winter in preparing the choris-
ters, who were scattered all over New Eng-
land, — every village and town contributing a
quota. They were supplied with the Jubilee
music, and the leaders and directors of all these
people had the tempi (Italian plural for
" time" ) given them. During many months it
was a busy time for Carl Zerrahn, as general
music director, and his aids. They had to
travel from town to town to drill the choristers,



PAREPA-ROS*.



Recollections of an Old Musician 193

or to see that the preparations were going on
auspiciously.

When all the singers finally came together
the result was pretty good. But a chorus of
ten thousand persons would naturally occupy a
wide space, and they would inevitably drag the
tempo. Mr. Zerrahn often had to show good
generalship by rushing up the aisle which
separated the two divisions of the big choral
army in order to get near enough to beat the
laggards into time.

Mr. Gilmore was a modest and a wise man,
and conducted but little of the music himself ;
but that little was great, — for did he not direct
the "Anvil Chorus " ? Will Boston, or at least its
Jubilee participators, ever forget the sensation
it had when the one hundred firemen— -each
in his belt, helmet, and red flannel shirt, carry-
ing a long-handled blacksmith's hammer at
" right shoulder shift " like a musket — ^marched
ipto the hall and on to the stage in two files of
fifty, and then separated far enough to form a
red frame for two sides of the orchestra, which
meanwhile was playing the introduction to the
"Anvil Chorus " ? Reaching their special, real
anvils, the firemen faced the audience, lifted
their hammers to the proper position, and at
the right musical moment of time began to

»3



194 Recollections of an Old Musician

pound the anvils, — right, left, right, left, —
while the great orchestra and chorus played
and sang the melody.

If ever "the welkin rang" it did then 1
In addition to the sounds from a hundred
anvils there was the great organ, military band,
drum corps, all the bells in the city achime, and
a cannon accompaniment This last came from
two batteries of well served guns stationed at a
short distance from the building, and a gun
was fired off by electricity on the first beat of
each measure. A small table was placed on
the stage, close to the director, with a set of
electric buttons, each having a wire leading
to a gun. Mr. John MuUaly was the artist
who pressed the button ; the gun did the rest.
These guns were similarly used for all national
airs.

At the termination of the " Anvil Chorus "
there was enormous applause. The whole
mass of people rose to their feet, jumped up
and down, and nearly dislocated their arms by
waving handkerchiefs, fans, hats, parasols, even
babies. I am sure that I was never in any
great assembly where such wild, almost frantic
cheering and applause was heard. Fifty
thousand people in a wooden building can
make some noise.



Recollections of an Old Musician 195

The dear, wonderful old maestro^ Verdi, did
certainly furnish a great opportunity for P. S.
Gilmore. It is equally certain that Verdi never
dreamed of the possibilities contained in the
" slam-bang " popular melody. When the piece
was ended, the gentlemen firemen would march
out ; and, the applause continuing, they would
march back again and go through the whole
exciting performance once more.

During the festival, some of the composers
like J. K. Paine and Dudley Buck directed
their own compositions. Mr. Eben Tourjee
directed Nearer^ my Gody to Thee^ and other
hymn tunes.

This first festival was held in June, 1869,
and lasted a week. Performances were given
afternoons only, — nothing in the evenings, ex-
cept a large, very successful ball given on
Friday evening. People poured in from all
parts of the country ; distance was no hindrance,
— they came from the far West and even from
California.

On June 17th, the President of the United
States, General Ulysses S. Grant, with Ad-
miral Farragut, Admiral Thatcher, Commodore
Winslow, a numerous staff, and the Governor
of the State, all in full uniform, were present at
the performance.



196 Recollections of an Old Musician

The financial part of the Jubilee was satis-
factory. There was a very large income,
^290,000, and a correspondingly large outlay,
^283,000. All professional people, except the
few who declined to receive pay, were paid.
The care of the finance had been taken off
Mr. Gilmore's shoulders. After every bill was
paid, a respectable balance remained. This
balance, together with the proceeds of a benefit
concert, ^32,000, making together v?39iOOO,
was, very properly and very handsomely,
handed to Mr. Gilmore.

For musical completeness I give the pro-
gramme of the first concert, June 15, 1869,
which will serve as a type of all.

1. Grand Choral, ** A Strong Castle is our Lord,"

2. Tannhauser Overture, Select Orchestra of 600,

IVagner.
Directed by Mr. Julius Eichberg.

3. Gloria from the Twelfth Mass, . . Mozart

4. Ave Maria, Bach-Gminod.

Sung by Madame Parepa-Rosa.

The violin obligato played by two hundred violinists.

5. National Air, " The Star Spangled Banner," Key.

Sung and played by the entire force with
Bells and Cannon.

Intermission fifteen minutes.



Recollections of an Old Musician 197

6. American Hymn, Keller.

7. Overture, " William Tell." . . Rossini.

8. Inflammatus from the *' Stabat Mater," Rossini.

Madame Parepa-Rosa.

9. Coronation March, from " Le Prophete," looo
performers, Meyerbeer.

10. Anvil Chorus, from " II Trovatore," . Verdi.

All the forces ; loo anvils, performed on by loo mem-
bers of the Boston Fire Department ; Bells and
Cannons.

11. My Country, Tis of Thee, wbrds by Rev.
S. F. Smith, D.D. All the forces ; the audience
requested to join in singing the last stanza.



CHAPTER XXIII

THE second Jubilee was held in 1872, and,
like all repetitions of a similar nature, it
was found to be impossible to get up a popular
excitement equal to that which attended the
first one. It was therefore not a financial suc-
cess. The new building designed for it, and
everything else, was on a larger scale, and not
so easily handled. There were some notably
fine features, but the whole was less of a strictly
home affair.

Gilmore's plans again showed his genius.
They were bold, well conceived, but very costly.
He went to Europe, and "talked the crowned
heads " (that was the popular phrase) " into
letting their crack " military bands come over to
play in the J ubilee. He obtained the band of the
Grenadier Guards from London, about forty-
five strong, under Dan Godfrey ; a German in-
fantry band, about thirty-five men, under Saro ;
and that of the Garde R^publicaine, from Paris,
of about fifty-five men. It was said that this lat-
ter was reinforced by fine artists from the opera,

Z98



Recollections of an Old Musician 199

and was not therefore a fair sample of French
bands. There was also a little insignificant
band, the Royal Constabulary, from Ireland.

These bands had an English day and Ger-
man, French, and Irish days. The English band
was good, the German, too brassy, the French,
magnificent The latter opened with Meyer-
beer's "Torch-Light Dance" {Fackeltanze)
and won instant success. They had a double
quartette of saxophones, four fagotti, a double
fagott, and some very large tubas : and the
total result was so round, full, and soft, that
all musicians were captivated with the deep
diapason volume of sound. Their perform-
ance of the William Tell overture was superb.

It is to be remembered that, in 1872, the
political antagonism between the French and
Germans was great. The Franco-Prussian
War had left rankling hatred between the two
peoples. The sight of a German to a French-
man was like shaking a red rag in the face of a
bull; consequently, on the day the French
band of La Garde R^publicaine marched down
the broad aisle in full uniform, surrounded (in
their imagination) by their enemies, the Ger-
man musicians, it was certainly an anxious
moment for the Frenchmen. It seemed to
me — perhaps it was the effect of the sympa-



200 Recollections of an Old Musician

thetic current created by the situation — that
they were pale with anxiety. It was to be
their battle-field ; they were to be judged by
prejudiced listeners, and they were on their
mettle.

The performance of the band was musically
so perfect that all prejudice was annihilated.
Metaphorically the Germans embraced the
Frenchmen ; we were all of one brotherhood
— ^politics and race differences had vanished —
the music had disarmed all evil spirits. We
were simply musicians, ready to award praise
to merit When the band ended the overture,
the players all about them were as wild in
their applause as the general public. And I
am sure I saw some of the Frenchmen wipe
away tears of joy at their well-won victory.

Mr. Gilmore had captured several rare lions
and lionesses for his musical menagerie, chief
among whom was the royal lion, Johann
Strauss, — the famous waltz-composer from
Vienna, — and Madame Peschka-Leutner, a col-
orature singer of extraordinary ability. This
lady captivated her audiences with her clear,
telling, high, and powerful soprano voice, her
almost matchless execution, style, and other
rare vocal gifts. She was a genuine success.

Then there was Madame Rudersdorf, a



JOHANN STRAUSS.



Recollections of an Old Musician 201

splendid singer, of broad, classic, oratorio style.
She was of great value to the city of Boston,
for she settled there and became a teacher of
teachers.

Strauss, violin in hand, conducted the
orchestra daily, in one of his most popular
waltzes, and also in some little knick-knacks,
such as the Pizzicato Polka^ which became at
once a great favorite. His manner of con-
ducting was very animating. He led off with
the violin bow to give the tempo^ but when the
right swing was obtained and the melody was
singing out from the orchestra, he joined in
with his fiddle as if he mtist take part in the
intoxication of the waltz. While playing or
conducting he commonly kept his body in
motion, rising and falling on his toes in a really
graceful manner.

It was natural that Strauss, the composer of
the Blue Danube, should be an object of great
interest to a large part of mankind and woman-
kind. The man who had furnished the human
family so many blissful moments, was bound
to be an idol ; and he had worship enough
during the limited time allotted him to face his
new-made Boston admirers. We must not
forget that on all public parades he had his
valet with him, — in gorgeous livery, a cockade



202 Recollections of an Old Musician

on his hat, a brown and golden belt round his
waist, a heavy cloth coat on, and over his arm
(with the mercury at 90) a heavy cloak to place
round his master, the king of waltz-makers, in
case of need. This warmly dressed, though
picturesque valet, always stood just at the
front edge of the stage with his eyes fastened
on his master. Some cynic has said, " No
man is a hero to his valet." I take no more
stock in that saying, for I think Strauss was a
hero to his. We must judge somewhat by
appearances in this world, as they often
furnish our only ground for judgment.

This second Jubilee had a " coda," or tail, in
the shape of a financial deficit, but the noble
army of martyr guarantors " faced the music "
like men.

Mr. Gilmore reached the apogee of his
greatness at the period of these festivals.
To conceive and carry out such plans showed
much forethought and executive ability. First,
to get those large military bands over from
Europe — foreseeing that it would set the
European world to talking of Gilmore and his
band — ^was a pretty big thing; and then to
follow it up (after he moved to New York
City) by actually taking his New York band
over to Great Britain, France, Germany, and



Recollections of an Old Musician 203

(I think) Italy, was certainly not only bearding
the lion in his den, or carrying coals to New-
castle, but it was undertaking a financial
venture of the most uncertain kind — and yet
Mr. Gilmore, with clear vision of success in his
eyes, boldly carried out the project, and re-
turned from Europe with all his colors flying.

I think it can be seen that the brave, loyal
bandmaster, Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, filled
a good page in the musical and social history of
our country. We hopefully believe he now
rests in peace.



CHAPTER XXIV

RUBINSTEIN and Wieniawski were, in
my humble opinion, the two greatest
artists who have up to date visited the United
States. They came together, under some for-
gotten manager, and travelled a part of two
seasons in 1873-74. Before and since the
coming of Wieniawski we have had many fine
violinists, beginning with Sivori, and followed
by Ole Bull, Miska Hauser, Vieuxtemps,
Sauret, Madame Camille Urso, Dangremont,
Paul JuUien, — then Wieniawski, Wilhelmj,
and quite recently Sarasate. Speaking from
an entirely unbiassed standpoint, I say that
Wieniawski overtopped them all. I think
there was not one in the above list who could
do certain things he did. In his Carnaval de
Venise^ he exhibited a mastery over every form
of violin technics which quite reached the
marvellous. His chromatic scale, played
staccato from the lowest to the highest note,
and down again to the lowest, in one bow, —
either an up or down bow, — was a feat, a tour

204



Recollections of an Old Musician 205

deforce^ shown us by no other virtuoso. His
double trills and double harmonics were perfect.
Nor was it in mere technical playing that he was
great, for he played with much sentiment and
feeling, and in quartette playing he showed his
best quality. He was the master-player and
king of all I have heard ; Joachim alone ex-
cepted when playing Beethoven or Bach.

I have reserved my little talk about Rubin-
stein, not because he was the lesser of the two
remarkable men, — for we all know he was the
greater, — ^but Rubinstein, the pianist and com-
poser, is not a subject to be disposed of in a
few qualifying remarks. Doubtless there are
partisans of various pianists, prepared to dis-
pute my estimate of him and give battle at
once. But let us not forget that a large pro-
portion of persons is always satisfied that the
latest good thing is the best in history. Also,
it is fair to say there is quite as large a propor-
tion, perhaps a larger one, which says that
the old way or person is the best.

Luckily for the pianistic and musical world
in general, the fact of Rubinstein's great playing
is still attested by large numbers, and, we may
add, by exclusively musical people. A consider-
able share of the partisanship of the present
day is recruited from the ranks of society peo-



2o6 Recollections of an Old Musician

pie, who take up people and fads and carry
them till the next new, good thing comes ; but
the whole critical musical world has sung the
praises of Rubinstein, from his advent as a
player till the day of his death, with scarcely a
dissenting voice. It is therefore fair to believe
that it was not without reason that Europe
had weighed him in the pianistic scales and
agreed that he was the great master.

Let us add to that fact that he can be num-
bered among the creator-gods of music. Do
not such beings possess an insight into the
spirit and wishes even of other composers, not
shared by those who have not the special gift
of composition ? Are not men like Rubinstein
made to glow with a composer's rapture ? We
all remember how he used to thunder on the
piano at times, and hit many wrong notes, and
we knew the cause. His passion was roused
— the brain working — the heart throbbing — his
mental vision following the guiding spirit and
the soul of the music. He was being carried
on its wings into ethereal regions. At such
moments, when cool mastery of technics was
absent, his fingers would play him tricks.
Even then it was a delight to be a listener, a
joy to be a musician and be brought under the
spell of his magic power.



ANTON RUBINSTEIN.



Recollections of an Old Musician 207

On one memorable occasion Rubinstein and
Wieniawski did me the honor to spend an
evening at my house in Boston. A right royal
musical evening it was, shared by about fifty
artist and amateur guests. We made much
music,— beginning with Rubinstein's String
Quintette in F, op. 57. Then we had the
Rasoumoffski Quartette in F, op. 57, by Bee-
thoven, with Wieniawski playing first violin.
Then the Schumann Piano Quintette, with
Rubinstein at the piano. Oh, it was a joy to
take part with such a man and in such a work !
and how Rubinstein did spur us on by his
passionate way of playing some of the great
parts ! his power was fierce and tremendous.
I think we all revelled in the sea of sound we
made about us.

After the Quintette, Rubinstein played a
lot of choice solo pieces, ending the evening
with the Chopin Polonaise in A flat, op. 53,
in which comes the wonderful passage for the
left hand in octaves. He began the phrase
very soft, then the "little-by-little crescendo''
was most admirably done, finally reaching a
fortissimo power which was quite colossal.
It stirred us all up, and set even the chan-
delier to jingling in sympathy, and possibly in
admiration.



2o8 Recollections of an Old Musician

It may not be amiss to give a little incident
showing Rubinstein's frank, lovable person-
ality. On the evening of the above musicale,
we had planned to make an intermission after
the second, composition, to rest the artists and
allow an opportunity for people to meet
Rubinstein. No sooner had we ended the
Quartette than Rubinstein came to me and
asked if he could not go down-stairs and smoke
a cigarette. I said, ** Yes, certainly " ; and we
went down to the dining-room, where we dis-
covered that the table was spread for the sup-
per. Rubinstein at once said, " I must not
smoke here ; can't we go into the kitchen ? "
" Of course," said I ; so we plunged into the
kitchen. This important part of the premises
we found in possession of three colored men
of the well-known J. B. Smith, caterer, and
the atmosphere was frightfully hot The next
question from Rubinstein was, couldn't he
take off his coat, it was so warm ? Off came
the coat, followed by the remark that it
was just delightful to enjoy the freedom of
a home, and how often had he gone into
his own kitchen to have a smoke ! While
he was in the midst of the sacred indulgence,
Mrs. Ryan came to the door searching for
Rubinstein, in order to introduce him to some



Recollections of an Old Musician 209

of the friends. The instant she appeared he
got into his coat with the celerity of a theatri-
cal expert, took one more puff at the cigarette,
and was ready for duty.

I often recall the trifling episode, — Rubin-
stein and I seated near the door farthest from
the cooking-range, he in shirt-sleeves with his
coat spread on his knees, and the three colored
men busy at the range but often turning
round to stare at the stranger with his odd
ways, language, and gestures.

Rubinstein's character was simple and unaf-
fected, interesting and individual, throughout



CHAPTER XXV

FROM the time of closing up the National
College of Music in 1873, the Mendels-
sohn Quintette Club travelled season after
season, giving concerts in all parts of the
country.

When we began going West in 1862 or 1863,
towns like Indianapolis, St. Paul, Grand Rap-
ids, and Cleveland, were small ; and we have
seen them grow into large, populous cities, and
noticed the changes in the manners and cus-
toms of the people. There is very little dif-
ference now in the people of any section ; they
are so homogeneous that we cannot tell whether
we are playing in Bangor or Omaha or on the
Pacific Coast We have frequently visited Can-
ada, from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

In the early spring of 188 1, we made our
first visit to California, and how new and ro-
mantic it did seem ! We were not so blas4 as
we became afterwards.

I knew that in San Francisco I was to meet
many old friends, and I realized most of my

810



Recollections of an Old Musician 211

pleasant anticipations. We left Omaha be-
hind us in snowdrifts, just as we had left all
nature in the Eastern and Middle States in
the desolation of winter storms. These same
storms followed us till we reached Reno, in
Nevada. Waking up the next morning in
Sacramento, California — ^what a change ! The
jump from winter to summer had been made
in one day-and-night's journey. All nature
had put on the lovely dress of June. The
odor of flowers, the distinctive featur6"of Cali-
fornia, was in the atmosphere we breathed, and
the delight froni it was throbbing within us,
when, as if to emphasize our joy, one of the
expected friends came to the train to meet
myself and my family, bringing a great mass
of roses freshly gathered from his garden.
How wonderful and delightful it did seem !

We all get accustomed to this kind of thing
in time, and it no longer stirs our enthusiasm.
But the first experience stays by one as a
charming souvenir.

Our concert experience in California was
pleasant and profitable. We visited nearly
every place up and down the coast, including
Oregon and Washington Territory. In San
Francisco we gave an extended set of con-
certs, and when leaving for Australia we had



2 1 2 Recollections of an Old Musician

a farewell which made us all happy. The
Quintette Club at that time was composed
of the following artists : First violin, Isidor
Schnitzler ; second violin, August Thiele ;
flute and viola, William Schade ; clarinet and
viola, Thomas Ryan ; violoncello, Fritz Giese ;
Miss Miller, soprano.

While we were in " Frisco," we had been
advised that a concert trip to Australia would
be a profitable one, and we determined to un-
dertake it It was a bold venture. The cost
of fares one way for agent and company was
fourteen hundred dollars. There was a chance
that we might have to " come home on our
trunks " (in theatrical parlance) ; yet we were
quite sure we could not "foot it." It is a
pity that slang alone can paint the possible
situation.

Steamers for Australia sailed only once a
month. Our agent went a month in advance
of us, taking a good stock of printed matter
to prepare the way. The voyage from
" Frisco " to Sydney takes twenty-eight days.
We were advertised to start on a Saturday,
and our Club was to give a concert in Hono-
lulu the following Saturday ; but the English
mails were late in reaching " Frisco," and we
could not sail till Sunday. That fact unfortu-



Recollections of an Old Musician 213

nately prevented our reaching Honolulu till
the Sunday following, and we gave no concert
till we made the return trip, ten months later.

We had a pleasant and uneventful voyage
on the steamer Zelandia. It is just one week's
sail to Honolulu. The ship requires about ten
hours to unload and loaci. The next port made
is Auckland, in New Zealand, fourteen days'
sail, where a stop of from six to eight hours
is made. The next port is Sydney, in New
South Wales, seven days' sail, and the end of
the trip.

After a few days' rest and a chance to get
our fingers into working order, we gave a
soiree, by invitation, in Pahling's piano ware-
rooms, to newspaper and music people. The
papers declared that nothing so thoroughly
artistic as our Club had hitherto visited their
colony. It was a good send-off.

Throughout the colonies our system of giv-
ing concerts was very different from that in
vogue in the United States. We generally
hired a hall or opera house for two weeks, and
played nightly, giving more classic music than
we would then have dared to play at home.
Generally there were four different prices for
admission, ranging from one to four or five
shillings. Very many people bought their



214 Recollections of an Old Musician

tickets at the doors with bank checks. I have
often had as many as fifty of these little checks
on different banks, the amounts ranging from
two shillings to a pound. It was a nice little
job each morning to get them cashed.

About four days before we sailed from San
Francisco, the shooting of President Garfield
had occurred. At Honolulu we could hear no
report of the good man's condition. Fourteen
days later, on arriving at Auckland, the Amer-
ican consul came to the ship to give us the
joyful news that Garfield was out of danger,
and would probably "pull through." That
was a cheering send-off for the next trip of
seven days. But alas ! on the morning fol-
lowing our arrival at Sydney came the very
sad news of his death. Genuine sorrow was
felt by the citizens of Sydney ; the stores were
closed, all business was stopped, and a public
meeting was called in the City Hall. All
Americans were present and many speeches of
condolence were made by sympathizers. We
were made to realize that in the branches of the
English-speaking race a strong relationship
exists ; hit one member of the family hard, and
you hit all.

When I sailed away from America's shores
my good wife insisted that I should contribute



Recollections of an Old Musician 215

a letter once a month for the Boston Transcript.
I wrote five such letters, from which I quote
freely in the following account of our Austra-
lian experiences.

After our arrival in Sydney and the sairie
by invitation, we gave concerts in the City
Hall for two weeks. We also made a trip into
Queensland, stopping first at Brisbane, the cap-
ital of the colony, five hundred miles north of
Sydney, on the coast. Most of our travelling
was by water, as we only visited the cities, and
they lay on the fringe of the continent We be-
came pretty good sailors, and thought no more
bf a voyage of from two to seven days than
we would of a trip from Boston to Springfield
or Portland by rail. On the voyage to Bris-
bane we sailed most of the time within a few
miles of the shore, and could see that the
country was almost a wilderness, covered with
eucalyptus trees, of the prevailing olive-green
colon Two days' sail brought us to Brisbane, a
city with a population of thirty thousand. We
underwent the doctor's inspection, and then
put up at a comfortable hotel. We gave
about seven concerts, then took steamer for
Maryborough, twenty-four hours distant.

Early on the morning of the next day some
aborigines came on board from an island ; real



2i6 Recollections of an Old Musician

natives, — ^six men and three women — a mean
lot The women were in full, extra gala trav-
elling costume (and I was given to understand
were in deep mourning). Their heads were
decorated with a mass of small copper-colored
feathers, gummed to their hair, over which was
a rag of a handkerchief which, keeping all in
place, was tied under the chin. One young
woman was extra gay. Her dress consisted of
an old Balmoral skirt, held with a string going
up over the left shoulder, crossing the back,
and meeting the skirt again under the right
arm. This picturesque arrangement left both
arms, and, in fact, the whole body, quite unfet-
tered. I was told (it may have been a libel,
though) that on their reservations, mainly
islands, their costume consists of the feathers
only. The other two women were dressed a
little more in the fashion of the day. They
had cotton gowns on, docked rather short it is
true, and ragged and torn, but that simply took
away a certain otherwise inevitable stiffness.
The gowns were fresh from the ash-pit, that
was certain ; no poor laundress had to suffer
from their exacting ideas of nicety. They all
wore the hosiery Nature gave them, their shoes
were untanned except by the sun, and — oh,
poor creatures ! — such thin shanks !



Recollections of an Old Musician 2 1 7

Bread and meat were given them. Charm-
ing was it to see their mutual friendliness. A
large bone, with plenty of meat, was in the
hands of one of the party ; he or she would
take a good generous mouthful from the bone,
then pass it to the next, and so on. When
they had polished the bones and were satisfied,
they squatted on the poop-deck and began
playing cards, each chipping in a penny for the
pool. They grew very excited over the loss of
a trick, and it was a severe struggle every
time, both with cards and tongue, to get the
pool.

The gentlemen of this party had to work
their passage, cleaning brasses, unloading
cargo, etc. They were all of a dark negro
color, with a very mean, despicable look, such
as you see sometimes in a cur dog ; they drink
to excess. Up-country here, they always have
dogs with them. Men and women, always in
Indian file, follow each other, — never two to-
gether, — ^always scolding and quarrelling. The
women often carry a scanty little wardrobe,
blanket, etc., on a clothesline which, put round
the neck, hangs down their backs — baby thrown
in. They are all beggars in towns, and are not
allowed to sleep within the precincts ; they
stretch out anywhere, the climate being merci-



2i8 Recollections of an Old Musician

fuL Speaking of climate in Queensland, it
may be summed up as fine. We are now only
two hundred miles from the Tropic of Capri-
corn. The sun shines hot, but the atmosphere
is never debilitating, Miasma and malaria are
totally unknown.

In Maryborough we gave four concerts, do-
ing a fair business. By rail we went sixty miles
in the interior to Gympie, a mining-town on the
hills. As they never have frost, the bulk of
miners live in little huts of bark, or tents, and
can sleep out of doors the year round. In-
deed, beds for extra guests in hotels are made
up on verandas and piazzas.

Our concert room here is the Variety Thea-
tre, a fair-sized barn, with doors on hinges up
near the roof, opening for light and air. The
sides are of weather-boards only, the roof
shingled withth in hardwood, no lining ; stars
shine through ; and as people commonly carry
umbrellas, they are prepared to use them in
case of a sudden shower. The night of the
first concert, we had in the shilling part — rear
end of the bam — ^about two hundred people,
mostly miners. These gentlemen were pre-
pared to enjoy the concert in their own way,
nearly every one having a good honest clay
pipe. The little wax matches which light with



Recollections of an Old Musician 219

a snapping noise were going all the time, —
you could plainly see the spark on the back-
ground of good thick smoke. As we had a
large front part of house at four and three
shillings, I made up my mind to try the effect
of a coaxing appeal to the gentlemen in the
rear to abstain from smoking. I spoke of the
heat, close air, the general enjoyment which all
would realize if they would abstain from smok-
ing while the performances went on. It had
the desired effect: they put up their pipes,
were very quiet, attentive, and enthusiastic;
but when approaching the end of part first, we
could hear the little explosive matches on all
sides going like fireworks, and at the last note
up rose nearly every man, with a good head
of pipe on, and marched out the side door, to
take the air, and " see a friend."

We usually allow nearly fifteen minutes be-
tween parts; our agent rings a bell out-of-
doors like the schoolmarm, and in they troop.



CHAPTER XXVI

AFTER our venture in Queensland we re-
turned to Sydney and prepared for our
trip to Tasmania, formerly named Van Die-
men's Land, — an island about two hundred
miles long and shaped like a crusader's shield.
It was three days' sail from New South Wales.
We reached Hobart, the capital of the colony,
situated at its southern extremity, on December
24th. Steaming into the bay on a lovely early
summer morning, the view was enchanting.
On the left of the bay, rising from a beauti-
ful sandy beach, stands Mount Nelson, twelve
hundred feet high, with a very picturesque
flag station on the summit. At the right of
the bay, at the base of a hill, is Battery Point,
a rounded eminence of greensward. Between
these two points lies snugly ensconced the
town, which spreads up and over the slopes of
numerous small hills having for background a
high hill, densely wooded, then a deep valley,
and then, to crown the picture, directly in the
centre. Mount Wellington, 4166 feet high. The

220



wr



Recollections of an Old Musician 221

whole make-up of bay, shipping, handsome
buildings, and embowered dwellings, with an
old-fashioned red brick windmill on a hill, its
skeleton arms, now unused, stretching out,
made a picture more attractive than any my
eyes ever rested on — ^and further acquaintance
with the town but increased its charm for me.

There are the usual recreation-grounds for
the people, a beautiful demesne on the edge
of the bay ; a good-sized historical museum,
containing valuable coins, birds, beasts, fishes,
and geological specimens found in the colonies ;
a large public library, and handsome town hall,
where we played, — ^which, by the way, has three
glass chandeliers worthy to be placed in a Pa-
risian opera house. In the centre of a pretty
garden square stands a handsome bronze statue
of Sir John Franklin, who was one of the
former governors. There is also a fine bo-
tanic garden of rare trees, fruits, and flowers.

The day following our arrival being Christ-
mas Day, we duly celebrated it by making up
a party of four Americans, including Professor
Denton of Boston (the lecturer on geology,
who had just concluded a series of lectures),
to " do " Mount Wellington. It proved to be
a very fatiguing tramp of twenty-one miles
there and back, but richly were we rewarded.



222 Recollections of an Old Musician

Part of the way up a very steep trail, when
Hearing the summit, we had about a quarter of
a mile of the roughest kind of climbing, over
what is called the " ploughed fields," made up
of huge, basaltic, columnar rocks, which for-
merly were the face of the mountain, and in
falling were shattered, crushed, wedged in, and
then rounded in time by the elements. This
struggle over, we were fairly on the table-land
Another one and a half miles brought us to
the looking-off place, the view from which was
certainly grand beyond description. The day
was warm and perfect, the atmosphere clear.
We could see about ninety miles distant, over
nearly three fourths of the horizon. It was a
beautiful intermingling of land and sea, — in-
numerable bays making in from the ocean,
some with bluffy margins, others with lovely
sweeps of half-moon beaches ; all wonderfully
fascinating, the sea being of a very light blue
and the breakers on the bright sand beaches
making a uniform fringe of pure white, marry-
ing exquisitely with the background of thickly
wooded shores. These beautiful effects of
color and shape made us fairly wild with de-
light. Then there were various narrow arms
of the sea making into the land, which, sloping
off gently on both sides to the water, gave



Recollections of an Old Musician 223

promise of opportunity in the coming years
for homes fit for a race of artist-kings. In-
deed, we all agreed that if Tasmania were part
of Northeastern America, it would speedily be-
come one of the greatest watering-places, in the
finest sense, in the world. From our objective
point we could look down on the streets of
Hobart, the harbor, and about twenty miles up
the Derwent River.

We gave ten concerts in Hobart (population
about twenty thousand), all well attended, with
one great crowd on the night of a concert given
under the patronage of the new governor.
All the fashion, of necessity, were out Leav-
ing this cozy city, we took train for Launces-
ton, the only other city in the colony, stopping
to give one concert each at Oatlands and
Campbelltown. This latter place is the town
to which the American government sent a
body of astronomers to observe the transit of
Venus a few years since. These two little
places, each of about one thousand population,
gave us crowds. They came in from long
distances.

Launceston, with a population of about
twelve thousand, has not the natural beauties of
Hobart, but is nevertheless a handsome town,
built upon the sides of a hill, and is the centre



224 Recollections of an Old Musician

of a fine farming country — farms resembling
those seen in Vermont — with plenty of fat cattle
and thousands of sheep. Two rivers, the North
and South Esk, here join and form the Tamar,
— ^a pretty harbor for shipping. The South
£sk is for many miles a swift cataract, running
through a gorge in the mountains filled with
wild, picturesque beauty. Where it debouches
into the Tamar, it is spanned from hill to hill
by a light iron bridge two hundred feet long
and of a single arch, forming a very graceful
object in the landscape.

In Launceston we gave five evening con-
certs of mixed music and one matinee of clas-
sic, to large and enthusiastic audiences. In
both cities they have musical associations
which give oratorios ; though I noticed that
in one of the cities there is a professor who
advertises to " teach singing and music" One
delightful souvenir of Launceston I shall not
soon forget, — ^the charming hospitality of a
most remarkable woman, between sixty and
seventy years of age, authoress, poetess, and
accomplished artist, married early in life in
England, her husband high in government life.
She has written a series of works describ-
ing Tasmania, illustrated by her pencil in quite
a wonderful way ; and her abundant means



Recollections of an Old Musician 225

enabled her to have them printed in London
for private distribution. While still a girl, liv-
ing in Birmingham, England, in 1833 Paganini,
the great, visited that city. A few verses of
poetic rapture on hearing him play brought
him to her feet He expressed his homage
by presenting her a silhouette picture, with a
suitable dedication in his own handwriting, on
a page in an album, on the opposite page of
which the great man wrote the first eight
measures of the Campanella Rondo for violin.
My delight and surprise at seeing such a sou-
venir in so remote a quarter of the globe may
be easily imagined by musicians.

The history of Tasmania is full of interest,
made so chiefly by the fact that all the de-
ported criminals formerly in Botany Bay were
carried to that island. That act, joined to the
** wiping out " (so to characterize it) of the
native population, has created a page of his-
tory as savage as it is romantic. I can add to
that history a few facts quite in keeping with
the general trend of Tasmania's records.

When I was a boy of perhaps six years of
age, my father's regiment was stationed in
Plymouth, England. An order came from
the government that two soldiers from each
infantry regiment could volunteer to go to

»5



226 Recollections of an Old Musician

Tasmania. They must however be married
men and each have at least two children. On
arriving at the colony, they would receive
their free discharge, a tract of land, and some
money to help them to start in the new life.
The government's plan was to have in that
colony a force of men suitable to do police
duty. I remembered that two men volunteered
from our regiment.

On my arrival in Hobart, the capital of
the colony, I sought information about these
old volunteers ; I had remembered the name
of one of them, and that was a help in getting
on to their traces. I quickly ascertained that
one of them was dead, and the other was a
poor imbecile in a distant asylum. Their fam-
ilies had quite disappeared from the island



CHAPTER XXVII

ON January 19, 1882, we returned to
Sydney and made a short tour in the in-
terior of the colony. While on this trip I was
fated to have a personal experience as strange
as anything to be found in a novel.

Just before I was married in 1854, a brother
of my future wife was induced by some young
men of his own age to try his fortunes in
Australia. The reports of the gold ** finds "
in that country were more attractive even
than those coming from California.

The party sailed from New York in one of
the American clipper ships for the city of
Melbourne, and presumably arrived in safety ;
but, though my wife wrote many letters to her
brother, in the care of the American consul,
no replies ever reached us. Year after year
rolled by, with its growing uneasiness concern-
ing the fate of the gold-seeker, till, finally,
in the twenty-eighth year of his absence an
intimate friend going to Australia promised
faithfully to aid us, and did ascertain that the

227



228 Recollections of an Old Musician

brother had been dead for several years, leav-
ing a widow and one child, and that he had
been reputed to be a wealthy man. We wrote
to the widow, but no reply came ; Australia,
like the United States, is a big country.
Part of my object in visiting those distant
colonies was to find that widow, but up to the
time of our arrival in New South Wales, I had
made no movement in that direction, for I was
awaiting our visit to the colony of Victoria,
when I meant to visit the Ballarat region.

On this trip we arrived towards evening in
a small town where we were to give a concert.
I was met by our agent at the railroad station,
who told me that the proprietress of the hotel
was a relative of mine, and was very anxious to
meet me. Approaching the house, I saw a
lady waiting on the piazza The agent intro-
duced me by name. She was strangely agi-
tated, and asked me if I did not once have a
brother-in-law in the colony. I replied, ** No ;
I did have one in Victoria, but he is no longer
alive, and I intend to search out his widow
when I visit Victoria." The lady said, " I
knew the husband intimately and also the
widow." I asked, " What kind of woman is
the widow, and can you tell me where I can
find her ? " She replied, " She is not far to



Recollections of an Old Musician 229

seek and is a good woman." Instantly I ex-
claimed, "Then you are the widow?" "Yes,"
was the reply, in broken tones.

A young lady, under twenty years of age,
then came forward, and was introduced as
her daughter, who had recently been married.
Both mother and daughter were greatly
affected. After a while I was able to learn
their histories.

The dead husband was a thorough Ameri-
can ; he had worked in the mines, carried on a
sizable hotel, and had made a good deal of
money. Meantime his health failed ; in short,
he was consumptive. The wife urged him to
make a trip to the United States, to see his
relations once more, and then return. Decid-
ing to carry out this plan, he had a special
carriage made for his comfort by which to go
to Melbourne, about two hundred miles dis-
tant. An American was selected to travel
with him, and a large sum of money in cash
and drafts, sufficient for the entire trip, was
drawn from the bank.

The sick man started on his long journey,
in very dejected spirits. On the second day
a telegram reached the wife to the effect that
she must hasten to a town en route if she
wanted to see her husband alive. She started



230 Recollections of an Old Musician

at once, but he had passed away from this
life before she could reach him. Very little of
the money he had taken was found on his
person ; the people round him declared it must
have been stolen while he lay asleep the first
night.

The usual troubles followed, — ^the return
cortige to the desolate home, the law settle-
ments, etc After all expenses and debts
were paid, not much ready money was left,
and of real estate only the hotel. The lady
remained a widow for several years ; then she
realized that a husband would be a great help,
and was married to a good man.

A few years were passed in comfort — ^then
dire misery again supervened. The hotel,
which was a wooden -frame building, took
fire and was destroyed. The wife saved some
personal effects, — among them the former
husband's old American trunk, which had
always stood on the piazza outside their door.
When trying to save things from the flames,
she happened to notice it, gave it a shove, and
it fell to the ground. It was saved to furnish
a pathetic proof of the vicissitudes which can
attend the life of a poor old American trunk.
It had now one badly charred end, and the
body of it barely held together.



Recollections of an Old Musician 231

Another thing saved was a lady's hat-box
in which were letters written to the brother and
his widow by my wife, also a few carte-de-visite
pictures which we had sent them from time to
time. It was a singular collection and illus-
trated the story told me by the wife and
daughter.

The latter showed me with great pride
another thing she had managed to save from
the fire, her father's old American-made guitar.
He was a good player and used to play ac-
companiments for the little daughter's singing ;
so her first instinct on the night of the fire
was to save the old guitar. As she told me
the story she took up the old instrument, put
her arms round it, and embraced and kissed it
as if in affectionate remembrance of her father.

This long story was told after our evening
concert, and I wrote it down in black and
white, not daring to trust it to memory, and
mailed the record to my family.

To return to our travels, we gave a fare-
well concert at Sydney which was very grati-
fying. The music-lovers had decorated the
stage with flowers and large English and
American flags. Enthusiasm quite reached
fever-heat when, at the right moment, a lady
came on the stage and handed me, as con-



232 Recollections of an Old Musician

ductor of the Club, two very beautiful flags,
English and American, made of satin, and fully
three feet long, with an inscription in silver
letters wishing us all " good luck."

The next day we sailed for Melbourne, the
Mecca of our pilgrimage, five hundred miles dis-
tant. We spent a month delightfully in that city,
which we found to be a musical one, if several
musical societies and many concerts are good
proof of that statement.

We made our dibut in a concert given by
the Apollo Club, a society built on the lines
of that of Boston. It was for us a grand
send-off. The conductor was Mr. Julius Herz,
an enthusiastic and accomplished musician.

Another fine musician, conductor of the
"Melbourne Club," was Mr. Julius Siede,
with whom I was glad to meet and revive old
memories. He had come to the United States
with GungFs Orchestra, and was a brilliant
flautist. When that orchestra returned to
Germany, Siede settled in New York, but
afterward came to Boston. He then trav-
elled to the antipodes with Madame Anna
Bishop and Bochsa, the harpist. Siede fi-
nally made Melbourne his home. He was
curious to know all about " the States," and we
had many long talks before the time came for



Recollections of an Old Musician 233

our club to leave the magnificent city of Mel-
bourne.

We sailed to Adelaide, capital of South
Australia, two days distant. It is a charming
city with a population of fifty thousand. We
gave about ten concerts, with fair success. We
had there an experience of hot weather, never
to be forgotten ; for two days the mercury
registered 1 20 degrees in the shade.

Returning to Melbourne, we had a splendid
farewell concert in the grand City Hall. We
were honored by the attendance of all the
city dignitaries, in their regal robes. After
the concert, the Club and the assisting artists
were treated to a supper in the mayor's room.
When parting-day came we bade good-bye
with regret to the many Melbourne people
who had become warm friends.

We were now to start on the home-stretch,
— New Zealand being the point where we be-
gan to turn our faces toward America. We
had a stormy sail of six days to reach Inver-
cargill, the lowest point on the South Island.

I will give but a summary of our work in
New Zealand : Three concerts in Invercargill,
population 6000 ; ten in Dunedin, population
40,000; thirteen in Christchurch, population
28,000 ; six in Auckland, population 20,000.



234 Recollections of an Old Musician

In Dunedin (Scotch for Edinboro') we met
with an old fellow-artist, Mr. Beno Schereck,
who used to travel as pianist with Madame
Camille Urso. In Christchurch (a city started
by the Bishop of Canterbury) I had the pleas-
ure of meeting Mr. Julius Haast, the curator
of the great Museum. He had lived in the
United States many years, and was famous
for being the finder of the Moa bird.

On the trip to Auckland we stopped at
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. I
had a note of introduction to Dr. Hector, the
curator of the large Government Museum. He
also had lived in the United States, and was a
man of resolute character, happiest when he
had some dangerous exploring trip on hand.
I must repeat a story he told. He had been
ordered by the government to visit the Maori
country and examine a little lake singularly
placed in the cup of what looked like an ex-
tinct crater, on quite a high mountain ; the
water of the lake having an issuance on the
mountainside, far below its bottom, thence
forming a river. The doctor's duty was to
obtain from the Maoris permission to examine
and measure it.

The mountain was in the heart of the Maori
country, a sacred burial-place, and of course



Recollections of an Old Musician 235

tabooed to all white people. After a long
journey on horseback he reached the Pa (vil-
lage) of the tribe, and requested its chiefs to
permit him as government surveyor to make
a drawing of the mountain lake. They told
him they would consider the matter, call a
meeting of the chiefs for the next evening,
and then let him know their decision. The
professor's time was valuable ; he could n't wait
for the Maori red tape to be measured, etc.
Apparently acquiescing in the arrangements of
the council, he spent the night quietly resting.
Next morning he started out in an opposite
direction to the mountain, went into the bush,
found a secure hiding-place for his horse, tied
him, made a detour on foot, climbed the sacred
mountain, and made a satisfying drawing of
the lake. It was a very risky thing to do.
Returning to his horse and back to the village,
he attended the meeting, and received permis-
sion, never before given to a white man, to
visit the sacred spot; he then showed them
his completed drawing. All they did was
quietly to laugh over the affair.

I have seen goodly numbers of the Maoris
on the coast steamers and in the streets of
cities. Physically, they are a fine race, — ^tall
and well formed. Only among the old men



236 Recollections of an Old Musician

can one now see those whose faces are tattooed.
Most of the women, young and old, are tat-
tooed across the red of both lips, then incurved
double lines toward the chin, meeting there,
then a small device in the centre. The enr
semble makes the impression of a faint goatee
whisker, when seen from a little distance.

Four days' sail carried us to Auckland,
where we gave six successful concerts. Then,
on the 23d of May, we embarked on the noble
steamship City of New York^ flying the " Stars
and Stripes," and commanded by the most
fatherly of men, Captain Cobb ; which in good
time brought us to our homeland.*

En route, after a voyage of fourteen days,
we stopped at Honolulu. It had been ar-
ranged for us to give a concert in that city if
circumstances permitted. When our ship was
approaching the shore, on June 5, 1882, but
was still about two miles from the wharf, a
fleet of small boats came out to meet friends,
and from one of them came the questions, "Is
the Quintette Club on board ? Are they ready
to give the concert ? " To which we joyfully
replied, "Yes." Thereupon, the boat signalled

^As before stated, these notes of travel in Anstralia, etc., are
qnoted from letters written at the time, and no attempt is made to
bring them np to date.



Recollections of an Old Musician 237

the wharf, and the news was sent to the tele-
phone office. Thence it was promptly speeded
round the city, reserved seats were taken with
a rush, and we had a fine audience. Nearly
all the passengers on our ship, 250 in number,
were present, as well as the best society in the
place, including King Kalakaua and his court,
crowding the boxes of the opera house. Af-
ter the concert we were f6ted by a German
society at their club-rooms, where we " made a
night of it," until it was time for the ship to
sail, early next morning.

A voyage of seven days brought us to San
Francisco. As we sailed through the Golden
Gate, and I looked with mingled pride and
pleasure on the familiar scenes, every object
seemed to have a voice, and all sang to my
ears, ** Welcome home again," and I was glad.

When the Club made its first visit to Cali-
fornia, our singer was Miss Marie Nellini, a
brilliant singer, but a very poor sailor. When
preparing for Australia, we were able to en-
gage a good singer who was also a good sailor.
Miss Cora Miller. On our return from Aus-
tralia, I was introduced by Mrs. Rosewald, the
well-known vocal teacher in San Francisco, to
Marie Barnard. I discovered immediately that
she was a genius in her line. She travelled



238 Recollections of an Old Musician

with us for two seasons, and then went to
Paris to prepare for the operatic stage. She
has since developed into a good actress under
the name of Marie Bama.

When leaving for Europe she promised to
find a singer to replace her. In a very few
weeks she cabled me, " Have found fine singer
for you." In due season Miss Lila Juel ar-
rived, young, tall, handsome, and a Swede. She
sang with me for two years. It would be diffi-
cult to find a better concert singer or a more
amiable person.

In 1862, Teresa Carrefto, a remarkable child
pianist, nine years of age, accompanied by her
father and mother, came to the United States
from Caracas, Venezuela.

The father of this ** wonder child " was a man
of distinguished political position in his coun-
try, and was also a devoted musical amateur.
He was the child's only instructor up to her
seventh year of age ; then Julius Hoheni, a
German professor, took charge of her. On
the arrival of the family in New York, the dis-
tinguished pianist, Gottschalk, took the great-
est interest in the little girl, gave her lessons,
and taught her many of his brilliant pieces.

Teresa was gifted with a wonderful memory.



Recollections of an Old Musician 239

She could acquire the mastery of a lengthy,
difficult fantaisie in two or three days. This
gift is always the surest sign of a musical tem-
perament that will bring distinction to its
possessor.

Teresa made her first appearance in Boston,
January 4, 1863. She remained here about
one month, and was a great attraction at the
grand orchestral concerts which were given at
that period under the direction of Carl Zerrahn
or P. S. Gilmore. She created 2l furore of
enthusiasm every time she played. I doubt
if any child pianist of the same age has ever
exceeded her in ability. Imagine a child of
nine years playing Thalberg's Moses^ Gott-
schalk's yerusalem, and similar pieces, full of
technical difficulties.

Teresa was a lovable character, rather
sedate and thoughtful, with very attractive
features, beautiful, pleading eyes, and a strong
and healthful physique. My family were
greatly attracted to her. She and her mother,
a large handsome woman, paid us several visits.
Teresa never failed to bring her doll with her.

At the end of the Boston visit, Teresa gave
what was termed a Juvenile Reception to at
least three thousand school children in Music
Hall. She wished distinctly to do this thing ;



240 Recollections of an Old Musician

she said that being herself a child, she wanted
the children of Boston to hear her. At this con-
cert his Honor Mayor Cobb (I think it was)
led Teresa on to the stage and made a little
speech ; then she played, to the children's great
delight ; after which came the reception, first
in the anteroom, and then on the stage. It
was with difficulty she could tear herself away
from her young hearers.

Carreflo's artistic life is well known in Amer-
ica, for though she paid many visits to her own
country and Europe, a large part of her early
life was spent among us. She can certainly be
called American at least by adoption. As a
pianist she has for years stood in the front
rank of brilliant players. A few seasons ago
she played the great No. 4 Concerto, by Ru-
binstein, in one of the Boston Symphony Con-
certs. I was one of the delighted listeners.

While she was thrilling me with her magnif-
icent playing of the great composition, my
mind was travelling back to her iirst appearance
in that same Music Hall, when as a little child
she had to climb upon the music stool to
play her piece. After the concert I did myself
the honor of visiting her. In conversation, we
went over much that had happened in her art
life. She, as a good American, wished to know



Recollections of an Old Musician 241

all about the progress of music in the United
States since she had made her home in
Germany.

I regard her as a wonderful player in all
respects. She is now in the prime of life,
strong and vigorous, full of verve and intelli-
gence, of fine mental grasp, and is as thoroughly
devoted to her art as she was at twenty years
of age. Her great popularity therefore is
easily accounted for.

z6



CHAPTER XXVIII

WHEN our club arrived in San Francisco
from Australia in the summer of '82,
we received a cable message from Mr. Henry
E, Abbey, then in London, offering us an en-
gagement to travel the coming season with
Madame Christine Nilsson. It was joyfully
accepted, and the season was one of the pleas-
antest we ever passed. We performed on the
average three or four times each week, visiting
only large cities East and West, and New
Orleans and California. The company com-
prised : Madame Nilsson, soprano ; Miss Hope
Glen, alto (an American singer who has lived
most of her time in London) ; Mr. Theodore
Biorksten, tenor ; Signor Del Puente, the well-
known baritone; Mr. Charles Pratt, accom-
panist ; and the Mendelssohn Quintette Club.
Madame Nilsson was in the prime of her
vocal powers, and her renditions of the Ah
Perfido, Angels ever Bright and Fair, and Conr
nais tu le pays, were examples of great singing.
Wer cheval de battaille, however, was the "Jewel

24a



CHRISTINE NILSSON.



Recollections of an Old Musician 243

Song " from Faust, by Gounod. She used to
" go through all the motions," just the same as
she would in opera. Her ballad singing was a
revelation of the fine, tender heart she pos-
sessed. It was a rare occasion when she was
not forced by popular desire to sing the Suwanee
River. She doubtless will be remembered by
the great mass of music-lovers as the lady who
sang so touchingly about the "old folks at
home."

Many people have an incorrect idea of
Madame Nilsson's personality; it was popu-
larly reported that she was cold, austere, dis-
tant, and unapproachable. As I had a rare
opportunity to learn her true character, I can
sum it up in a few words : in public and on the
stage she was dignified and queen-like, but in
private life she was full of geniality and amia-
bility. As an example of her good-heartedness
I will instance a pleasant evening she made
for us on Christmas eve in Denver, Colorado.

During the day she sent for me and re-
quested me to get the members of the com-
pany to meet together in her parlor at sharp
nine in* the evening, and confided to me her
plans for their entertainment. Accordingly I
saw them all and suggested that it would be
a charming thing for us to surprise Nilsson



244 Recollections of an Old Musician

with a Christmas-eve call ; as fellow-artists she
certainly would be delighted to see us. They
thought it a good idea ; and we called on her
very near the appointed hour, each one entering
singly, and expressing pleasure at meeting the
others.

Nilsson carried out her part with the tact of a
consummate actress, receiving each visitor with
amiable and friendly greeting. Altogether
there were eleven of us, besides the Danish
minister and his wife. For a while we had a
pleasant time chatting with our hostess and each
other; then suddenly we heard three sharp
knocks on the door, — ^bang-bang-bang, — and
we all cried out, " II Commendatore from Don
Giovanni I "

** Mercy on us, what is that ! " exclaimed
Nilsson. Bang-bang-bang, — came three more
knocks. " Won't some one go to the door ? "
she asked. " Such a knock as that on Christ-
mas eve is rather terrifying."

I ran to the door, opened it cautiously, and
then threw it wide open, disclosing to view two
men with a great basket, big enough for the
** buck-basket " in Falstaff. " Madame," I ex-
plained, "these men say they have been or-
dered to bring this basket to you, with Mn
Abbey's compliments."



Recollections of an Old Musician 245

The basket was set in the midst of the
room ; the lid was lifted ; Nilsson went down
beside it, and after removing a mass of paper
and wrappings brought a lot of Christmas gifts
to light, — one for each of the party, all duly
marked in her own handwriting.

After these gifts had all been received, and
inspected with much pleasure and merriment,
Madame Nilsson said, " Mr. Ryan, please help
me to put the basket outside the door " ; and I
ran to aid her. As we lifted it she said,
** Why, I feel a great weight still ; what can it
be ? " Dipping down deeper into the basket
she brought up some very nice things to eat,
and a goodly number of bottles of Golden-Seal
champagne.

We drank to the health of everybody, our
hearts grew light and merry, and the home-
sickness we felt at being away from home on
Christmas eve was dispelled. It was in Nils-
son's power, as the " star " of the company, to
make us all happy, and most charmingly she
did it. Her thoughtfulness on that occasion
placed her very high in my estimation.

A few years later, we received another cable
message from Mr. Henry E. Abbey, engaging
our club to travel with the wonderful boy pian-



246 Recollections of an Old Musician

ist, Otto Hegner. We opened the season
with him in the Metropolitan Opera House in
New York City. For that occasion, in addi-
tion to the Hegner company, a grand orchestra
under Walter Damrosch was employed. The
engagement lasted less than three months, for
the " star boy-pianist," though acknowledged
by the press to be a marvel for one so young,
did not " take " well enough with the public to
produce good financial results. It was there-
fore wise to end the tour as soon as the situa-
tion became evident.

In the previous year the little Josie Hoff-
mann, another boy pianist, had had an enormous
success under Mr. Abbey's management, and
a repetition of the same kind of performance
is pretty sure to be a failure. The young Heg-
ner was a perfect little darling, and yet a manly
boy, of lovable disposition, entirely unaffected,
unspoiled, tractable, and respectful to his father
to a degree not generally found in such preco-
cious folk. When he returned to Europe he
was placed under competent masters for sys-
tematic study. The boy of yore has now
grown to man's estate, and his genius is ac-
knowledged, for he has played with success
in the best concerts given in the capitals of
Europe.



CHAPTER XXIX

A HISTORY of the incidents and happen-
ings that our club met with while filling
engagements would suffice to fill a book of
respectable size. Some of them were exas-
perating, some were droll, and others were
discouraging. But they were all " in the day's
work," and helped to make up the life. I
recall a few, which may serve as types of the
numerous whole.

The first concert we ever gave in Topeka,
Kansas, about thirty-five years ago, was signal-
ized by a scene I shall not soon forget We
had a full house in the local concert hall. I
noticed when we began to play that the front
row of seats was empty, evidently reserved
for some special people. Those "specials"
came in while we played our first piece. They
were Indians, about twelve in number, some
being " blanket Indians " — ^which means that
they wore their brilliant blue and yellow striped
blankets shawl-wise, and their buckskin mocca-
sins, and that their faces and front hair were

247



248 Recollections of an Old Musician

painted The rest of the party were dressed like
good, stock-raising American farmers, but were
unmistakably Indians. I was told there was a
father with six sons in the party, all very large,
broad-shouldered men. They filed quietly into
their seats, preceded by a local guide, in whose
hands they seemed like good, docile children.

They had come to town to get their govern-
ment allowance, and our local agent induced
them to take in the show. It was doubtless
a case of reciprocity, for we certainly "took
them in." One can never know what they
thought of us, but one can do something in
the way of inference. They sat quite immov-
able in their seats, with their ox-like eyes fixed
on our party while we played serious music.
No shadow of emotion could be seen on their
countenances.

The fifth number of the programme was a
violin solo played by Mr. Schultze, and for an
encore he gave a little caprice entitled. The
Bird in the Tree^ a charming jeu d^ esprit, by
Miska Hauser, which represents the joyful,
almost delirious, singing of a wild bird in the
woods. The moment Mr. Schultze began this
piece, the Indians were all alive, their eyes
sparkled with pleasure, and they nudged each
other with their elbows. And when the little



a AND HIS FATHER,



Recollections of an Old Musician 249

bird-melody and imitations of bird singing be-
gan (all done in high harmonic, flageolet tones
on the violin), they looked all around the ceil-
ing and the walls, doubtless expecting to see
singing-birds flitting about. Not seeing any,
they looked at the violinist, and began to un-
derstand that he was the magician. The
surprise, and almost incredulity, which was
depicted on the faces of these children of na-
ture was a rare show in itself. At its conclu-
sion they jumped up and down just as little
children do when something unusual pleases
them.

This violin piece ended the first part of the
programme. Our second part began with an-
other serious piece, and the twelve pairs of
eyes lapsed into the ox-like placidity again.
Very shortly the red men had had enough of
us " freaks," and they quietly rose and filed
out of the hall.

In this same Topeka, many years later, the
concluding piece on one of our programmes
was a potpourri which began with the intro-
duction to the Der Fretschiltz overture. We
had a good house and a crowded gallery. In
the latter two men were seated on the right-
hand side near the stage, who, when we began
the closing piece, attempted to get out. They



250 Recollections of an Old Musician

had to walk down one side of the hall, then
across the end, then up the other side, before
reaching the door, which was the only means
of ingress or egress to the gallery — ^an awful
fire-trap. We began the introduction to the
overture. At this point, up rose the two men
and started for the door. We stopped playing.
The silence told the men that something had
happened, and they sat down again, probably
not wishing to make a show of themselves by
walking out, in their number elevens, without
music. All being quiet, we began the opening
phrase once more ; up rose again the two men
and began their march. Again we stopped,
wishing to let them get out and not have our
piece spoiled ; and again they stood still, this
time in the aisle next the wall. We waited a
little, and hearing no noise we began for the
third time. Instantly, one of the men, who at
this point had probably " got his mad up,"
started for the door. With him it was " Pike's
Peak or bust " this time. When we heard the
noise we stopped again, whereupon the audi-
ence began to titter, and the man making for
the door ran the gauntlet of many ironical
remarks from the boys, such as, **Take your
time, old fellow,"— " No hurry,"— " He '11 get
there,"—" The fiddles '11 wait," etc. Finally he



. Recollections of an Old Musician 251

reached the door and slammed it with all his
might, a parting benediction which, as a rever-
end friend afterward remarked, said " Damn ! "
as surely as a word could be translated into
action. The entire audience understood it in
that sense and burst into a perfect roar of
laughter.

When quiet was restored we played the
piece, and ended the concert.

Many of our young and inexperienced friends
probably think we have led a very sunny life,
flitting from one scene of enjoyment to another.
Perhaps we have had our share of good times ;
but I know to a certainty that we have had
to take our share of hardships while travelling
in the West thirty years ago. Railroads were
not so plentiful as now, and we often had to
travel on boats and in stage-coaches.

We had given a concert in Winona, Minn.,
and were booked next evening for La Crosse,
Wis., twenty-six miles distant, both places
being on the Mississippi River. It was planned
that we should take a boat at six a.m. We were
called and had breakfast in good season, but
the boat did not show up. About ten a.m.,
word came that she had encountered a severe
storm up-river, and would not reach Winona



252 Recollections of an Old Musician

till about ten in the evening. There was a
regular mail-boat which left Winona at four
o'clock in the afternoon, in time to reach La
Crosse at eight in the evening ; but that was
rather late to arrive, as the landing was a good
mile distant from town. Desiring to fill our
engagement in proper time and shape, I sought
advice, and finally arranged with a livery-stable
man to convey us by land. We did not get
started until eleven in the forenoon ; then we
were packed, seven in number, into a canvas-
covered wagon, a genuine " prairie schooner."
We had eight heavy trunks, making a con-
siderable load.

I had bargained to pay the man thirty-five
dollars, and he agreed to land us in La Crosse
by five or six o'clock in the evening. As soon
as we were all loaded, he demanded his money
in advance. Like an idiot (I did not know
the world so well then as I did later) I paid it
We lost time in crossing the river, and it was
after twelve o'clock before we reached the
Wisconsin shore. We then had a drive of
about eight miles of bottom-land through the
woods, — a drive of the most jolting, dislocating,
seasickening character, accompanied with the
constant expectation of being capsized. In
fact it was simply horrible. We were shut up



Recollections of an Old Musician 253

suffocatingly close under the canvas, for it
was midwinter and extremely cold.

About four in the afternoon we had climbed
to a plateau above the bottom-lands, and drew
up in front of a big bam with a little house
attached to it, where we got out of our prairie
schooner, hoping to get something in the line
of food. A very hard-worked, careworn-look-
ing woman told us she had nothing in the
house but salt pork and potatoes; with tea,
but no coffee, and neither bread nor crackers.
We asked her to make some tea, which she
did; but as the stablemen quickly changed
horses and cried "All aboard!" we could
swallow but little of the scalding-hot beverage.

As we started I casually asked our driver
what time he expected to reach La Crosse,
— and he thought we might get there between
nine and ten ! That reply made my heart
sink. I expostulated, saying, " You know the
liveryman agreed to deliver us at six p.m. at
the latest." The driver replied, ** It is im-
possible ; we are still seventeen miles from La
Crosse."

I then understood our dilemma, and the
blunder we had made by not taking the mail-
steamer, and also by paying in advance. We
were in the clutches of unprincipled men.



254 Recollections of an Old Musician

After considering for a while what I could do
to better the situation, I untied the canvas
where I sat, told the driver to put his head
near to me, and whispered into his ear, "If
you can get us into La Crosse by eight p.m., you
personally will be ten dollars richer." He
replied, *' All right ; V 11 do it."

From that time he labored hard for it, and
almost overturned us when descending a steep
hill leading to the Blackwater River, a narrow
and shallow stream which we had to cross
on a flat-bottomed ferry-boat, run on a wire.
When about half-way over, we stuck on a
sand-bank, and the order came, "Turn out
all hands and help to pole her off." The
ferrymen got into the shallow water on the
bank and pried the boat off ; we lost a good
thirty minutes by that mishap, but it rested
our horses, and we were rushed forward, and
finally reached the opera house at 8.15. As
we got out, we heard the mail-boat whistle !

Dead tired, hungry, without even a chance
to wash our hands or brush our hair, and
wearing clothes in which we had travelled, we
unpacked our instruments and music, and
went through the entire programme, doing our
best to play and sing for the pleasure of the
large audience. In the midst of our first piece



Recollections of an Old Musician 255

we heard the rattle of carriages which had
been sent to the boat to transfer us quickly to
the opera house. The drivers brought up
word, " Not aboard," and then learned we had
come overland and were performing on the
stage. When starting from Winona we could
not telegraph, as the wires were down.

That was a day not easily forgotten, — no food
from five o'clock in the morning till eleven at
night, and bitter cold weather. But people
can do wonders when duty forces them on.

I recall another very disagreeable journey
for which some fortitude was necessary. We
had played at a concert in Honesdale, Penn-
sylvania, and were booked for Montrose the
following night. We had arranged to take a
" gravity road " to Scranton, twenty-four miles
distant, but a heavy snow-storm had blocked
it up ; no train could run ; and the question
arose, could we not be carried by sleighs?
Duty was spurring us on to meet our engage-
ment and earn our fees. We went to a livery-
man, who said he would get us to Scranton
in time for the afternoon train to Montrose
Junction, or he would make no charge for the
effort. That was a good principle to work on.

We agreed to start at six in the morning.
The weather was clear but very cold. Our



256 Recollections of an Old Musician

seven people and the driver were in a three-
seated open sleigh, while the eight trunks
and the double-bass (in a large, heavy case)
were in a " pung." We took plenty of shovels
with us, as our road was over a mountainous
region. Many times we had to take down
stone and wooden fences to get out of snow-
drifts into open fields on clear ridges. The
pung and baggage were, of course, the impedi-
menta ; we had to unload and shovel out very
often. About ten o'clock we came to a small
village at the foot of a hill, where we got some
coffee, and where the people declared that we
could not possibly get over the next hill, as
the road was full of drifts ; but our driver was
confident of success, and inspired us with his
pluck. We started again, and encountered
many difficulties. We upset twice while driv-
ing into fields ; and once all our people were
thrown into a ditch, the sleigh completely
covering us, but our driver crawled out and
helped us out. The atmosphere just then was
heavy with mutterings, but Miss Ella Lewis,
our brave and bright singer from Maine,
kept our tempers sweet by infusing into us
the hopefulness of her own steady courage.
What a lucky thing it is for mankind in general
to have a woman near when trouble comes !



Recollections of an Old Musician 257

We were making very slow progress, and
began to despair of reaching Scranton; but
about one o'clock we saw men and teams get-
ting out ice in a valley below us, when we
knew that our chances were favorable ; and
we really got there with half an hour to spare.
We had a good dinner, gave our benedictions
to the brave liveryman, and took the train
for Montrose Junction, There was another
steep mountain to climb, but I had telegraphed
the Montrose people that we were coming,
and they sent us special teams, for the snow-
drifts were deep. We finally reached the
hotel at half-past seven. The people gave us
a right royal welcome, for they fully appreci-
ated our heroic struggle to fill our engage-
ment ; and we were happy because our efforts
had been crowned with success.

Printers have played some funny tricks with
our programmes at times. It is a dangerous
thing not to see a "proof" before printing,
but often the programme has to be " rushed,"
and there is no opportunity. One of our
violinists was to play a solo on the old French
air, '^Je suts le petit tambour'' When the
concert was over, my attention was called to
this number on the programme, which read,
to my horror, ^^ Jesus le petit tambour ^

J7



258 Recollections of an Old Musician

At another time; Mr. Schultze was playing
nightly the old caprice by Mtska Hauser,
entitled. The Bird in the Tree. Writing the
programme one day in the office of the printer,
I incautiously wrote, '' Bird business, Mr.
Schultze,'' supposing that they would print
the full title as usuaL The programmes were
printed without giving me a chance to read
the proof When we came to that special
number, we noticed a peculiar buzz and fun-
enjoying condition among our auditors. When
the concert was over, we inquired the cause,
and a friend replied, handing us a programme,
" We wanted to know when Mr. Schultze was
to begin his ' bird business.' " It was a funny
way to learn a useful lesson.



M



I



CHAPTER XXX

AMONG the many musicians with whom I
I have been brought into contact from

I time to time, there are some who, for reasons

I personal or musical, or both, seem to deserve

special mention before I close these recoUec-

I tions.

i

One of them is J. C, D. Parker, a thorough
American, born in Boston. His father was a
steadfast member and worker of the Handel
and Haydn Society. Mr. Parker, Jr., was
from childhood a loving student of music,
although for a time after his graduation at
Harvard in 1848, he studied law ; but eventu-
ally his strong musical bent rebelled against
the giving up of his life to a profession for
which he had no hearty inclination. At that
period the Mendelssohn Quintette Club was
doing a deal of hard studying, and young
Parker was a constant and welcome visitor at
our rehearsals. It is probable that our club
is responsible for whatever trouble or loss may
have come to him through having made music

259



26o Recollections of an Old Musician

his life-work. At all events he finally started
for Leipsic, and devoted himself to study for
three or four years under skilful teachers.

Returning to Boston in 1854, he became one
of our fine concert pianists, playing concertos
in the Harvard Society concerts and most of
the chamber works in those of the Mendelssohn
Quintette Club. His solid reputation, how-
ever, has been earned as a composer. He is
also well known by his fine translations of
foreign works on harmony, which have been
of the greatest service to musicians.

Although born in Germany, Ernst Perabo
was brought to this country as a child in 1852,
and can be considered a good American by
this time. He received most of his fine mu-
sical training in the Leipsic Conservatory,
but returned to this country in 1865, and con-
tinued his piano studies here. While still a
young man he ventured on a public perform-
ance in New York City, where the critics
promptly discovered that he was a consum-
mately fine pianist. Shortly after, he came to
Boston and made a successful dibut in one of
the Harvard Society concerts, playing with
great iclat the Hummel Septette.

Since then he has been one of our most
progressive artists, and stands by right in the



Recollections of an Old Musician 261

front rank. Though he has played most of
the great modern compositions, his specialty
is his fine rendering of Beethoven's works. As
a teacher he is held in high esteem. Alto-
gether, he is an earnest, thinking musician,
who brings to our little musical world new and
bright ideas.

He has made a lengthy list of the most
useful arrangements for the pianoforte from
various orchestral and other works.

Arthur Foote, born in Salem, Mass., is an
American musician of enviable reputation, —
a first-class pianist and organist, and a com-
poser of high degree. His musical training
has all been obtained in this country; from
Stephen Emery in harmony, B. J. Lang in
piano and organ, and J. K. Paine in composi-
tion. But after all, and best of all, he has
dug the most valuable part of his acquirements
out of himself, — aus eigener Kraft^ as the
Germans would say.

As a composer he has presented us with a
long list of fine works, including most charm-
ing songs ; while his larger compositions have
been played and sung in the best concerts
throughout the country. And as he is still in
the prime of life it is to be hoped that he will
produce many more works from that fine mu-



262 Recollections of an Old Musician

sical vein which he so abundantly possesses, —
a vein of warm, rare musical feeling, aptly
controlled by musical science.

Portland, Maine, has the honor of being the
birthplace of J. K. Paine, who is easily one of
the foremost American composers of music in
classic form. His works include organ, cham-
ber, symphonic, and oratorio music ; and he is
a practical organist of marked ability. Most
of his training was received in Germany ; and
while he was there he composed a mass for
grand orchestra, solos, and chorus, which was
produced under his direction in Berlin, and to
which the press of that city gave unstinted
praise. Since his return to America in 1861,
he has proved himself to be a most industrious
and capable artist.

So much public praise has been given to him
and his works that there is no need for me to
add to it ; it gives me pleasure, nevertheless,
to express my sincere admiration of his genius.
Harvard University honored itself and the art
of music when it appointed Mr. Paine to a
professorship in its faculty. It was a good
example which has been followed by other
seats of learning.

In approaching the name of my dear son-in-
law, George William Sumner, so much of sor-



Recollections of an Old Musician 263

row at his untimely death fills my heart that I
am unfitted to say what his memory deserves.

My acquaintance with Mr. Sumner began
when I was searching for good pianoforte
teachers for the National College of Music.
Inquiries made among the older artists usually
brought out strong recommendations of "young
Sumner." He therefore became one of our
teachers, and it was not long before he mar-
ried my oldest daughter. He was a fine fellow,
and when he was taken from us he left a void
impossible to fill.

The testimony of history, when it refers to
the life of a good man, remains a precious leg-
acy to all who loved the subject. I therefore
quote from the Boston Transcript of August,
1890:

" Mr. George W. Sumner was bom of a musical family
in Spencer, Mass., in 1848. He early showed his musical
proclivities, and while still a child displayed enough
talent to warrant his exhibition in public. His father,
however, — Mr. William Sumner, for many years a teacher
and music dealer in Worcester, — took pains to have the
boy's education properly directed, and to that end placed
him under the best available instructors, Mr. B. J. Lang
being the last one.

**' Mr. Sumner's proficiency as a pianist, organist, and
teacher was of high character. His appearances as a
performer of pianoforte concertos in the * Harvard ' and



264 Recollections of an Old Musician

the ' Boston Symphony ' Societies, as a pianist in cham-
ber concerts, or as accompanist at the piano or organ
with the * Handel and Haydn Society/ the * Cecilia,' the
* Apollo,' and ' Boylston ' Clubs, were alike creditable
to the occasion, to his art, and to himself.

"Mr. Sumner's longest term of service as a church
organist was in the Arlington Street Church, where for
eighteen years he had charge of the music, and dis-
played no little talent in composition ; but these compo-
sitions were all in the line of hymns or anthems, and few
were ever published. Two notable pieces are in use in
all churches, IVAen Winds are Raging and Let your Light
so Shine. This latter is an alto solo.

'* In 1879, Mr. Sumner was appointed director of the
Orpheus Club, of Springfield, Mass. He brought the
Club to a high rank among male-voice choirs. His mu-
sical tastes, though refined and exacting, were broad and
comprehensive. Personally, he was a man of genial
temperament, unaffected and sincere.

" He left a widow, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Ryan,
and a young daughter."



Mr. John S. Dwight also contributed a no-
tice in the Boston Transcript^ which testifies
to the respect Mr. Sumner had inspired among
his professional brethren :

" In Memoriam : George William Sumner. — The
musical tribute paid to the memory of this gifted, ser-
viceable, generous, and amiable young artist by his pro-
fessional associates and hosts of friends, at the Music
Hall on Tuesday afternoon, November 25th, was a
touching and memorable occasion. The great Hall was



Recollections of an Old Musician 265

at least two thirds filled with sympathetic, serious listen-
ers. Nearly all the leading singers, pianists, teachers,
composers, and high-class musicians of our city, lent
their aid most heartily to the carrying out of a signifi-
cant and worthy programme. The list of participants
included all these names :

** Mr. Carl Baermann, Mr. George Chadwick, Miss
Gertrude Edmands, Mr. Carl Faelten, Mrs. E. C. Fen-
derson, Mr. Arthur Foote, Miss Gertrude Franklin, Miss
Elizabeth Hamlin, Mr. Clarence E. Hay, Mr. Anton
Hekking ('cellist), Mr. Franz Kneisel (concert-master),
Mr. Gardner S. Lamson, Mr. B. J. Lang, Mr. E. A.
MacDowell, Mrs. Gertrude Swayne Matthews, Mr. Ivan
Morawski, Mr. Ethelbert Nevin, Mr. Arthur Nikisch
(symphony conductor), Mr. George J. Parker, Mr. Ernst
Perabo, Mr. Carl Pfluger, Mr. Joshua Phippen, Miss
Louise Rollwagen, Mr. J. H. Ricketson, Mr. Sullivan
A. Sargent, Mrs. J. E. Tippett, Mr. H. G. Tucker, Mrs.
Jennie Patrick Walker, Mr. B. L. Whelpley, Miss Har-
riet Whiting, Mr. Arthur Whiting, Mr. William J.
Winch, Mr. Carl Zerrahn (oratorio director)."

Of this concert the Boston Herald said :

" The most remarkable programme arranged in recent
years was prepared for the concert in memory of George
William Sumner, whose recent death deprived the Ar-
lington Street Church of its accomplished musical
director, and left a vacancy in a wide circle of friends
that will not soon be forgotten."



CHAPTER XXXI

WHILE the Civil War was going on, the
government was already planning
soldiers' homes for the battered and crippled
men left in its terrible wake. The first Home
was more like a hospital for invalids than it was
strictly a Home, and was established in the
suburbs of Milwaukee.

The Quintette Club being in that city, I hap-
pened to meet Ex-Governor Smith of New
Hampshire, with whom I had a slight acquaint-
ance ; and who told me that he and the other
commissioners appointed by the government to
build and look after these Homes, had arranged
to visit the new buildings on the following mom-
i^gf go through with the formality of accept-
ance, and have the first flag-raising. He invited
me to bring our club, and contribute a little
music for the occasion, which we gladly agreed
to do.

Next morning about six to eight carriage
loads of citizens, with the commissioners and
our party, started for the Home, where the

266



Recollections of an Old Musician 267

ceremony was to take place at precisely twelve
o'clock. It was a very unpropitious morning ;
a furious gale was " blowing great guns," and
it was difficult to face it and stand upright.
The little company of war-scarred veterans in
the Home, perhaps a hundred in number, were
drawn up in line to receive us, — ^many of them
with only one leg or one arm, or on crutches,
truly a saddening sight.

The formal acceptance of the building by the
commissioners took place in the house ; then
the invited guests assembled near the flagstaff.
Music was out of the question ; our nice little
plans for that were sadly frustrated by ^Eolus
the god of winds. I determined, nevertheless,
not to let that flag go up without some music.
I took my clarinet to the foot of the flagstaff,
and when " Old Glory " was hauled up I played
as lustily as I could the Star Spangled Banner.
At the conclusion, all present gave three
cheers. It was a short ceremony, and we were
glad to get under shelter once more.

Six or eight years ago, our club gave a concert
in the Home, which is now a truly wonderful
institution, one of which any nation may justly
be proud. Indeed the present Home is quite
a little city in itself ; with a charming opera
house, which will hold about one thousand



268 Recollections of an Old Musician

persons and has its own regular orchestra*
The Home is often visited by musical and
dramatic companies. Everything of a nature
to cheer up the old veterans is freely en-
couraged.

While performing on the evening in question,
my mind was busy. I could not forget that I
was the son of an old soldier, my father having
served for thirty-three years. One of my
brothers also served under the British flag and
lies buried in India. My youngest brother
served all through the Civil War in the Union
army, and had a good record as Captain in the
ist N. Y. Mounted Rifles. He did not long
survive his campaigning.

When I looked over the rows of white-headed
men, I thought of the peculiar bond of sym-
pathy which must exist among them. Many
were seated alongside of the very comrades
who had stood shoulder to shoulder with them
in the hour of supreme danger, when each
minute might bring the billet for eternal sepa-
ration. Amid the tumult of action, when smoke
and flame, shot and shell, make earth to disap-
pear and a hell to take its place, the elbow
touch alone gives the signal, " Still alive." In
such moments a fellowship is formed which has
no counterpart among men's associations.



Recollections of an Old Musician 269

I took occasion between the parts of the
concert to address the audience and recall the
part we had played, over thirty years before,
at the dedication and flag-raising : and I noticed
that my remarks raised quite a buzz in various
parts of the hall. Afterwards I learned that
there was a number of men still in the
Home who corroborated my story. Indeed
the episode was one not easily forgotten. The
furious gale, the crippled men clinging to and
supporting each other when they took off their
hats to cheer the upgoing flag, for which they
had fought, made a scene worthy the pencil of
an artist.

Many years ago we gave a first concert in a
certain small town in Iowa. In the front seats
of the concert room sat a good, hearty-looking
German with his ** frau " and children, all of
whom had elated, interested faces. Evidently
national pride was stirred in their hearts by the
names of the performers ; and it found vent
and expression at the end of the first piece,
when the German rose to his feet and shouted
out, " Bully for the Dutch ! "

Afterwards we were informed that this good
honest German had been buzzing round town,
days in advance of the concert, telling his



270 Recollections of an Old Musician

American friends, ** Now you will something
hear like music" After the concert we were
right royally entertained by our enthusiastic
friend, who claimed that all musicians were
good Germans.



CHAPTER XXXII

THANKFULLY I reach the last chapter
of " An Old Musician's Recollections " —
and will end them by relating a pleasant ex-
perience I had, some eight or ten years ago,
on my first visit to Berlin.

Desiring to pay my respects to the great
master-violinist, Joachim, I called at his house
and sent up my card. I was at once received
and Mr. Joachim gave me a cordial greet-
ing, and put me at ease by saying, " You are
one of us. I know all that you and your club
have been doing ; I welcome you to Berlin."
The speech was uttered in good square Amer-
ican, and in a warm, genial tone of voice.

Having made as long a call as I dared to
make on a busy man, I rose to leave, saying :
" Mr. Joachim, I have never had the pleasure
of hearing you play, and I very much fear that
I never shall, for I understand that you don't
like ocean travel. My only chance to hear you
may be at the present moment."

" I would play with great pleasure " he re-

271



272 Recollections of an Old Musician

plied, " but I have an appointment at the High
School for Music ; perhaps you would like to
go over therewith me"; adding, "Would you
not like to hear our quartette play ? "

My delight at the possibility of such a
pleasure must have shown itself in my face,
as he promptly arranged a meeting for the
next morning ; and it was a most enjoyable,
musical, and social matitUe bet yoachtm.
The four gentlemen of his quartette certainly
did me great honor when they devoted a
morning to my pleasure, simply because I
was a brother artist from America They
played the F-minor No. lo Quartette by
Beethoven, and a new quartette in manuscript
by D' Albert. Joachim played violin primo ;
D'Ahna, secundo ; Wirt, viola ; Hausemann,
violoncello.

All four of them were professors in the High
School, Joachim being the general director and
chief of the institution. The school is mainly
supported by the government, and it is chiefly
for orchestral instruments, though piano and
singing are taught It is almost exclusively
attended by those who are preparing for pro-
fessional life. Pupils are rigorously examined,
and none can enter without good qualifica-
tions.



Recollections of an Old Musician 2 73

I heard the pupils play symphonies and
difficult concert overtures, — ^also cantatas with
solo singing and chorus. Perhaps one fourth
of the *' string" performers were young ladies,
and several were Americans whom I knew ;
Miss Geraldine Morgan, now in New York,
was at the first desk of violins, and Miss Lucy
Campbell played the violoncello. There was
also a number of young men from America.
Among them was a modest young man from
Louisville, just entered He told me he had
been incited to study the violin by hearing our
Quintette Club, and hoped it would be his
good fortune some day to play with us. Some
seasons ago, I needed a first violin for the
Club, and the modest boy, who had developed
into a brilliant player, became for a season my
concert-master, — Mr. Sol Marcosson.

Now, after fifty-four years of service, — forty-
nine of them with the Quintette Club, — rarely
free from care and responsibility, — I think I
can honestly say that I have tried to do my
share of musical duty. There have been num-
berless times when much fortitude was needed'
to continue working, for seasons were bad and
incomes small. But there was a good spirit
which said to me, ** Continue to do the work



274 Recollections of an Old Musician

for which you are best fitted, and your reward
will come later."

I have often felt a grest satisfaction welling
up within me — b, something which caused me to
feel perfectly happy — ^when the playing of the
Club was quite " up to the mark " ; that was for
me a wonderfully sustaining power.

I began life in America when the art of
music was about in accordance with my age, —
that of a youth. The art has grown, will con-
tinue to grow, and will become more and more
of a delight to all our people. There will be
no decadence.

To the old friends who have followed me in
this retrospection, I venture to express the
hope that I may have a place in their good
memory to the end of their days. For my
unknown readers, — perhaps a very small con-
tingent, — I trust that they will find sometiiing
of interest or value to repay them for the time
given to " An Old Musician's Recollections."

Thomas Ryan.

FINIS



y w .'